Chelsea star Alonso taking it up himself to maintain 100% start

Among the most prolific shooters in the Premier League this season, the usual suspects crop up. Mohamed Salah, Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku rank among the top 10, as is to be expected. The quartet, among others, will routinely test opposition goalkeepers in their pursuit of goal, so their presence among the top shooters is no surprise. 

However, sitting just outside the top 10 in 11th is Marcos Alonso. The Spaniard’s average of three shots per game in the Premier League this season ranks highly with the left-back hugely influential in the final third, as is to be expected. What’s interesting, though, is that since Maurizio Sarri took over the reins at Stamford Bridge, Alonso has been dropped to left-back in a 4-3-3 setup. 

For the majority of Antonio Conte’s spell in west London, Chelsea operated with a three-man backline with the onus on the wing-backs to fly forward and stretch opponents, offering an alternative offensive threat that helped the Blues to the 2016/17 title. As such, Alonso usually bombarded upfield to occupy the space Eden Hazard ahead of him vacated when the Belgian cut infield. 

Yet, despite starting deeper under Sarri, Alonso takes it upon himself to propel forward and take matters into his own hands. The central midfield in this Chelsea XI, consisting of N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and one other, either Mateo Kovacic or Ross Barkley, remains relatively compact, which means there is greater on onus on Alonso and compatriot Cesar Azpilicueta to provide the width in this Chelsea side, but even so; the former is going above and beyond in his pursuit of goal. 

As Chelsea’s main free-kick taker, this could partly explain why his shot return is so high, yet only two of the 12 shots he has mustered have been from set-pieces, with Alonso channelling his inner Gareth Bale to help put opponents to the sword. It was no small shock to see him crop up with the winning goal late on in Chelsea’s entertaining 3-2 win over Arsenal given his penchant for attacking, yet for all his shooting, just the one goal to show for it means that Alonso’s conversion rate of 8.3% is the worst of all players to score in England’s top tier this term.

Indeed, as a full-back rather than a forward, some wayward shooting is to be expected, yet this merely points to a perhaps larger problem at hand. Any team will take time to adjust to the demands of a new manager, and after playing a three-man defence, Chelsea are no exception following Sarri’s arrival. The Blues may have won all four of their opening matches under the experienced Italian, yet they haven’t really clicked into gear as Napoli did so impressively, particularly in the last two years. 

‘Sarriball’ is heavily focused on possession, and in that regard, Chelsea are living up to the demands of their manager. From an admittedly small sample size, only Manchester City (65.8%) are averaging more possession than the Blues (64.7%) in the Premier League this season. For key passes, too, Chelsea (56) are second to the defending champions (57). However, only West Ham and Huddersfield (both 2) have created fewer clear-cut goalscoring opportunities than Chelsea (3) in England’s top tier this term. 

The chances are being created, but they aren’t of the standard that will really open opponents up. It’ll take time for Chelsea to completely show a similar style of play to Napoli, yet the foundation is in place. Until then, though, we can expect to see Alonso fly upfield and continue to sport his shooting boots from open play. Whether that calms down in the foreseeable future, it remains to be seen, yet regardless; the Spaniard is set to continuously implement his own adaptation of ‘the Bale role’ from left-back, with Alonso routinely charging forward without a second invitation and, as far as some are concerned, long may it continue.