If you get chance again to watch the free kick you can see the look in his face as he eyes up the goal, he really believes he will score.

We have Alonso for all left foot curling free kicks from the center/right.

Willian from center/left, right footed curlers.

And Luiz for longer free kicks over 25yds in central areas.

Going with much of the comments above I agree about his pace, and with his positioning defensively lacking on the odd occasion the lack of pace doesn't help (That's why Cole was so good, if he got caught out positionally he'd have the pace to make up the ground to recover).  However in the air, going forward and dead ball situations you absolutely cannot fault him. You also have to applaud his overall strength, he fairly rarely gets knocked off the ball or loses 50/50's.

Considering he/we were lambasted when we signed him due to him playing for Bolton and Sunderland previously you have to give Conte props for the signing.

If i tried that, my groin would have been ripped to pieces 

7 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

If i tried that, my groin would have been ripped to pieces 

Mine just did when I saw the picture out of sympathy....

Loved hearing that Alonso chant.
MARCOS, MARCOS ALONSO
RUNS DOWN THE WINGS FOR ME!
MARCOS, MARCOS ALONSO
SCORES TWO AT WEMBLEY! 

Edited September 25, 20178 yr by TomCFC85

Still can't believe how badly he lost his head. Hope Conte slapped the sh*t out of him in the dressing room. Totally unprofessional. 

Christ, all players lose their heads at times, Conte made the right call taking him off and that's that.

On 25/09/2017 at 13:25, TomCFC85 said:

Loved hearing that Alonso chant.
MARCOS, MARCOS ALONSO
RUNS DOWN THE WINGS FOR ME!
MARCOS, MARCOS ALONSO
SCORES TWO AT WEMBLEY! 

Great chant.... love it

On ‎11‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 12:18, mojo said:

Almost looks like ballet, great photo.

He's having a very very poor season.

Yeah he's been off since the MOTM performance against spuds. He used to isolate himself on the wing and attack with that space, win headers and get into great shooting positions, but he's been pretty anonymous in most games.

Also Tibo kicking it out to him was a theme last season when playing out the back was too risky, why have we stopped doing it?

1 hour ago, Davey Baby said:

He's having a very very poor season.

 

52 minutes ago, sonic90 said:

Yeah he's been off since the MOTM performance against spuds. He used to isolate himself on the wing and attack with that space, win headers and get into great shooting positions, but he's been pretty anonymous in most games.

Also Tibo kicking it out to him was a theme last season when playing out the back was too risky, why have we stopped doing it?

I agree with both of you. Things that were working last season for him aren't this season. Everything looks very rushed and desperate from him, like he is a step behind everybody else. I think i said this in one of the match day threads, he's being made to do a lot more work than he should do. Defensively, he is being worked a lot this season. Because of this, he can't get going when he needs to get forward, he's just crowded out and when our wing backs can't get involved in the attacks, we are very limited going forward.

One of the things i will say though is that i don't think it's all down to poor form. I think every centre back, wing back and centre midfielder is struggling. We can't pass the ball out of defence. We are closed down quickly in our own half and we just can't deal with it this season. For me, this is why it seem's that so many players are out of form, why we are doing too much defending, why we are conceding so many goals and why Hazard and Morata are constantly in a 2 v 6 situation.

He plays basically every game, he really needs someone to rotate with. When is Baba back from injury?

4 hours ago, Zeta said:

He plays basically every game, he really needs someone to rotate with. When is Baba back from injury?

Was Baba even given a squad number? 

46 minutes ago, Valerie said:

Was Baba even given a squad number? 

That's so strange but he doesn't have one. He was 6 but Drinkwater took that, then 14 but Bakayoko took that one.

He's registered in our squad but has no number, I guess he will be assigned one if he plays. Maybe the rule is that you just can't change it mid season.

Edited October 23, 20178 yr by sonic90

2 hours ago, sonic90 said:

That's so strange but he doesn't have one. He was 6 but Drinkwater took that, then 14 but Bakayoko took that one.

He's registered in our squad but has no number, I guess he will be assigned one if he plays. Maybe the rule is that you just can't change it mid season.

His name wasn't included in the 25 man squad submitted in September, so we can't use him in the league even if we want to now. What is odd though is that we included Remy and Costa.

Edited October 23, 20178 yr by Scott Harris

17 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

 

I agree with both of you. Things that were working last season for him aren't this season. Everything looks very rushed and desperate from him, like he is a step behind everybody else. I think i said this in one of the match day threads, he's being made to do a lot more work than he should do. Defensively, he is being worked a lot this season. Because of this, he can't get going when he needs to get forward, he's just crowded out and when our wing backs can't get involved in the attacks, we are very limited going forward.

One of the things i will say though is that i don't think it's all down to poor form. I think every centre back, wing back and centre midfielder is struggling. We can't pass the ball out of defence. We are closed down quickly in our own half and we just can't deal with it this season. For me, this is why it seem's that so many players are out of form, why we are doing too much defending, why we are conceding so many goals and why Hazard and Morata are constantly in a 2 v 6 situation.

I think it is related to the midfield strength, when we have midfield dominance Alonso can get forward knowing if he loses it they can cover yet with Cesc in the middle realises it is too risky to go too far forward, IMO. 

Marcos' shin pads pay tribute to his grandfather and father.

I've just been reading through this thread, looks like he's had pessimistic treatment from day one, which is understandable of course. 

Surprised so many Chelsea fans don't rate him so highly, they think he's an average player who is playing in a system that benefits him. I don't think there is anything average about him, for a wide player he is an extremely talented footballer. Look at his passing and link up play against United two weeks ago, he doesn't misplace a pass. For a guy who is slow he has fantastic skill to beat players, very quick with his feet also his final ball is good. 

And how many wing backs score as many goals as Alonso does? Defensively he's not the sharpest, everyone knows this, 1v1's he struggles, he's no Ashley Cole. But then again Ashley Cole was one of the most overrated fullbacks when going forward, I can't tell you how bad Ashley Cole's crosses were.

I actually think this guy is the best LWB in the league, severely underrated on this forum. He looks tired though but he's still putting in good games, no idea why people aren't seeing it. The United game he was literally one of our best players, seriously watch his performance against United and look at how many times he got past players and got the ball to Hazard & Morata in dangerous positions, he was an absolute nightmare for them. 

I think he's definitely earned his price tag. 

9 hours ago, Slojo said:

I've just been reading through this thread, looks like he's had pessimistic treatment from day one, which is understandable of course. 

Surprised so many Chelsea fans don't rate him so highly, they think he's an average player who is playing in a system that benefits him. I don't think there is anything average about him, for a wide player he is an extremely talented footballer. Look at his passing and link up play against United two weeks ago, he doesn't misplace a pass. For a guy who is slow he has fantastic skill to beat players, very quick with his feet also his final ball is good. 

And how many wing backs score as many goals as Alonso does? Defensively he's not the sharpest, everyone knows this, 1v1's he struggles, he's no Ashley Cole. But then again Ashley Cole was one of the most overrated fullbacks when going forward, I can't tell you how bad Ashley Cole's crosses were.

I actually think this guy is the best LWB in the league, severely underrated on this forum. He looks tired though but he's still putting in good games, no idea why people aren't seeing it. The United game he was literally one of our best players, seriously watch his performance against United and look at how many times he got past players and got the ball to Hazard & Morata in dangerous positions, he was an absolute nightmare for them. 

I think he's definitely earned his price tag. 

agreed with most of this. His technique is fantastic for such a big player. If only he had the pace to keep up with the faster wingers i think we would be talking about him as one of the best LWB's in football at the moment. With no cover and no pace he's beggining to look slightly lethargic and leggy.

4 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

agreed with most of this. His technique is fantastic for such a big player. If only he had the pace to keep up with the faster wingers i think we would be talking about him as one of the best LWB's in football at the moment. With no cover and no pace he's beggining to look slightly lethargic and leggy.

A rest would help him, that's why it would have been good if we had another LWB to play. Kennedy can't hurt. 

He plays every games, I think it's normally that he looks less fit

I Think he gets more stick than he deserves.

offers such a threat going forward, not afraid to shoot with his wand of a left foot or his swinger of a right and is decent in the air.

yes he lacks a bit defensively and pace wise but is technically good and gives 100%effort  every game and doesn’t hide when things aren’t going right like some. 

As someone said at times he looks tired, I’m not surprised with the amount of effort he puts in every game and the lack of back up. That’s a club problem by failing to signing suitable cover not his.

 

5 hours ago, turnyitb said:

I Think he gets more stick than he deserves.

offers such a threat going forward, not afraid to shoot with his wand of a left foot or his swinger of a right and is decent in the air.

yes he lacks a bit defensively and pace wise but is technically good and gives 100%effort  every game and doesn’t hide when things aren’t going right like some. 

As someone said at times he looks tired, I’m not surprised with the amount of effort he puts in every game and the lack of back up. That’s a club problem by failing to signing suitable cover not his.

 

Does he?