Conte, Chelsea & Marcos Alonso: why it's a perfect mix
3 hours ago Jonathan Liew I Independent
There can't be a more complete player in this system
Though he has been plugging away in the background for years, you get the feeling Alonso is a very 2017-18 sort of player. The general movement within the game towards three-men defences, and the increasing onus on wide players to contribute goals as well as crosses, have created the perfect soil in which players like Alonso can flourish.
For Alonso is one of the small but growing number of elite wing-backs in the modern game. Though most Premier League teams have tried a variation of the three-man defence at some point this season, most players deployed in the wing-back role remain reconditioned full-backs. Alonso, on the other hand, is a genuine specialist.
His stunning free-kick against Newcastle was his seventh goal of the season: more than Pedro. In fact, it is more than any defender in Europe’s top five leagues: even if you occasionally wonder, as you watch Alonso blitzing forward whether it is actually fair to call him a defender at all.
What is clear is that Alonso has found a time and a team, a coach and a system, perfectly suited to his strengths. Ultimately, this may count against him. It is unclear whether he would even be equipped to play in a back four if required. There are occasional question marks over his one-on-one defending, and his pace is far less impressive than his stamina. Those doubts are almost certainly why Alberto Moreno keeps getting called up to the Spain squad ahead of him.
That Alonso is yet to be summoned to the national side will be a source of some relief to Chelsea. After Cesar Azpilicueta, Alonso is their most used player this season. His 90 minutes against Newcastle pushed him near the 3000-minute mark, and with Chelsea still fighting on three fronts, the arrival of Emerson Palmieri from Roma as cover for his position cannot arrive soon enough.
Source: Jonathan Liew I Independent.
