Guest Article – A View From The Bridge (Issue 1)

It’s time in the first in a new series called ‘A View From…’ where fans will be giving a weekly rundown of the latest news and opinions coming from their club

 To get us started Chelsea fan Francis Ibiok (follow him HERE on Twitter) will be offering up an article each week based on the current Premier League leaders.

His first part is an insight into how Marcos Alonso has fitted in to the Chelsea side, so without further ado it’s over to you Francis

Ever since the 2013/2014 season which was to be the final season at Chelsea for left back Ashley Cole, Chelsea have tried different options in attempt to fill the void vacated by the legendary defender.

Chelsea have chopped and changed options betweeen players like Cesar Azpilicueta (7M GBP), Baba Rahman (14M rising to 22M GBP), Kenedy (6.3M GBP) and Filipe Luis (15.8M GBP) to find a solution to the left side of the defense.

Players like Filipe Luis and Ryan Bertrand have been sold permanently to other clubs in the past 3 years. In the summer of 2016, Chelsea signed Marcos Alonso from Fiorentina on a 5 year deal for 24M GBP as a replacement for Baba Rahman who was to go on loan to Schalke 04.

24th September 2016, Chelsea are down by 3 goals, Cesc Fabregas is taken off for Marcos Alonso very early in the second half as Antonio Conte switches his system from a 4-1-4-1  system with Cesar Azpilicueta playing as the left back to a 3-4-3 system with Marcos Alonso playing as the left wing back.

This was to be the beginning of Marcos Alonso’s career in the Premier League as a Chelsea player. 16 games on from his debut at the Emirates, Marcos Alonso and Chelsea have kept an impressive 12 clean sheets (75%) and have conceded just 4 goals which have led Chelsea to become the best defensive side in the division while scoring 3 goals and giving 2 assists in the process.

He has also been a major part of the Chelsea team which has suffered just one league defeat since September and has seen the club make a club record 13 game winning streak in the Premier league as well as keeping 6 consecutive clean sheets.

Alonso has put in decent performances week in week out for the club in the left wing back position since that night at the Emirates averaging an overall WhoScored match rating of 7.5 since; making it difficult for Antonio Conte to switch systems or rotate him.

He has also allowed players like Eden Hazard and Nemanja Matic to move further forward and contribute in attacking phase because he has reduced the defensive burden on them especially Eden Hazard.

He might be no Ashley Cole but he is certainly playing a part in his debut season to the success of Chelsea football club and has in some ways provided stability in the left side of the Chelsea defense which has been lacking since Ashley Cole left the club.

As good as Alonso has been you could perhaps argue that it’s still an area that Antonio Conte would like to at least add to so to provide some competition, but it seems as if the tactical masterstoke of changing to a back three earlier in the season might well be the one that brings the title back to Stamford Bridge.

 

Thanks Francis and I look forward to next weeks installment.

If you would like to give a view from your club on a weekly basis then please get in touch – you can email me at – realfootballmanwordpress@gmail.com