The sidelined fullback
Marcus Alonso once sidelined, had a prolific performance today against Burnley as he helped Chelsea win the match. The Spanish fullback had been sidelined from the Chelsea lineup since September for every Premier League match. Was there anything between Lampard and Marcus Alonso?
Frank Lampard occasionally fielded a back four, and once a while a back 3, with two fullbacks, Reece James and Chilwell. When Chelsea played a back four, Alonso would end up not featuring also. His teammates, on the other hand, Azpilicueta, Reece James and Chilwell were preferred to him. It was rumoured that he had a fallout with the then manager Frank Lampard. Of course, Lampard denied such claims on the press.
A clean slate
Under Thomas Tuchel, former PSG manager, Marcus Alonso has made his first Premier League appearance since last year. Thomas Tuchel in a previous press briefing, stated every player had to fight for his position. It is now clear that Chilwell, Emerson Palmieri, and the thirty-year-old will have to fight for the Left Back/ Left Wing Back (LB/LWB) role.
Thomas Tuchel fielded a 3-4-2-1 formation vs Burnley’s usual 4-4-2 formation. This gave the Spanish fullback a chance to start for Chelsea considering Chilwell had begun in the previous league match for Chelsea.
Chelsea started the game with an early goal from Cesar Azpilicueta. The Blues added another in the dying embers of the game. This time, it was an Alonso goal. He controlled the ball with his chest, flicking it with his knee then firing straight over Nick Pope’s head with his strong foot. The goalkeeper was helpless in this situation. That made it a 2:0 win for the Blues. Quite a notable perfomance by Alonso ensuring Chelsea defeated Burnley. Following this win, Chelsea is now 7th in the Premier League standings. Everton and Aston Villa are following closely with a game in hand.
Marcus Alonso’s stats vs Burnley
- Goals 1
- pass accuracy 88.2%
- Shots on target 1
- Clearances 3
- Tackles 1
- Ground duels won 2
- Aerial duels won 1
- Big chances missed 1
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Considering how Chelsea is playing, if Tuchel continually fields a back three formation, the Chelsea fullbacks are bound to get more goals or and assists. Moreso, considering that the first goal was assisted by Hudson Odoi, who was playing at the Right Wing Back (RWB) position.
Prolific fullbacks
With multiple players to choose from for the Left back /Left Wing back position, let’s see whether Tuchel will keep preferring Alonso over Chilwell and Emerson Palmieri. Who would you pick in the starting line up, Chilwell or Alonso?
