As the left half of Chelsea's dynamic wing back duo, Spanish defender Marcos Alonso took very little time to prove himself a quality last-minute signing from Fiorentina on the last day of the summer transfer window. Combining with Victor Moses on the opposite flank, the two wing-backs have greatly aided Chelsea's cause, especially in the Premier League.
Speaking to Chelsea's official website, Alonso talked a bit about the balance he and Moses bring to the side.
"I think it is a good balance for the team. There was no need for us to talk to each other before about what we were going to do. A lot of games he goes more forward and I maybe stay more at the back, but that also depends on how the other team plays and it's good to have variation and different options. I think Victor is doing a great job and hopefully we can keep helping the team as we have been doing in the previous games."
While Moses spent much of his playing career as a winger, Alonso has been a defender since his early days as an up-and-coming prospect at Real Madrid and then at Bolton Wanderers. But in recent seasons in the Serie A, he often occupied the left wing-back position, and that’s something that certainly gave himself an edge in adapting to Conte's plans.
"It's not so different from how I was used to playing at Fiorentina, so it was easy to adapt when I first came here, but there are some different aspects that we have been working on with the manager. But I think it's not too far from the football I played last year."
Alonso was the surprise scorer of two our three goals last weekend against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium as Chelsea got back on the winning track after the setback at Spurs. Set to face a much easier challenge in Hull City on Sunday, Alonso knows that the team will still have to keep their focus 100 per cent.
"The team is playing very well and we've just got to keep it going and think game by game, not think about games in the past or how we did last week. Every week we have a new challenge and we have to face each of them with 100 per cent focus to stay at the top of the table."
-Marcos Alonso; Source: Chelsea FC