🇪🇸 Marcos Alonso

[OhForAGreavsie 6,074]

2 hours ago, Parky said:

Also looks like the absence of Matic made it far worse for Alonso. Look at Cesc not even covering either Sliva or De Bryune.

It might be the absence of Matic but it might also simply be that city have a quality collection of footballers. In other words, we don't have  enough evidence to show whether things would've been better if Matic had been in the team on Saturday.

I was strongly in favour of Alonso's signing. I think he has given us improved stability when we are in possession and that this has made a big difference to our effectiveness going forward as well as at the back. Of course he doesn't get all of the credit for that increased stability in possession; Victor has given us just as much of an improvement on the right hand side.

Between them they've made a big, big contribution to our turnaround  but we do need upgrades. I like Alonso a lot but we should urgently be looking for someone that gives us the  same quality of continuity play,  but with more to offer defensively. if we find that person, and Marcus is prepared to live with the role of a back up, then that would be a very significant improvement to the squad.

[Fernando 6,585]

Do you think Ricardo Rodriguez might be an improvement?

[The Skipper 20,609]

13 minutes ago, Fernando said:

Do you think Ricardo Rodriguez might be an improvement?

Nope. Not even better than Alonso imo. 

[OhForAGreavsie 6,074]

6 minutes ago, Fernando said:

Do you think Ricardo Rodriguez might be an improvement?

I'm not a fan.

I first saw him a number of times when KDB was on loan at Bremen, then I watched him a few times when he was being linked with us. The opinion I formed then was that he is overrated so I wouldn't be excited if he was signed. Certainly I would be a lot less positive than I was when we signed Marcos.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

1 hour ago, Fernando said:

Do you think Ricardo Rodriguez might be an improvement?

He isnt fast either, not good in defense, but has good cross on him, that said, Im more than impressed with Alonso when it comes to it. 

Alonso is not doing as bad as people point out, he gets exposed against quick players because he isnt fast and his marking is poor, but generaly speaking, he was good every time bar city game.

I was one who criticised him when we bought him, but he did much better than I expected. He is allround player, decently strong, good technique, makes things simple, yet he can deliver quality ball and get involved in attack alot. He aint Marcelo, but unless we find someone realy realy good who is athletic, good in defense and quality on ball, I would not bench Alonso just yet. 

He is IMO more important than it seems on first sight. He connects play very nicely and has good work rate. He will never be quicker, but if he can mark better and get more comfortable with the ball, I think he would make a top wingback.

I just hope the board either keeps faith or goes for actual quality. No Rodriguez or Ghoulam etc that we were linked with. 

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

I think some of this is a bit unfair.  Yes, he wasn't excellent, but I don't necessarily think he was "targeted" per se.

City overloaded the (their) right side of the pitch in order to get De Bruyne just inside the flank (right half space, I suppose).  Navas out wide and Silva just inside to occupy Alonso and Cahill respectively.  So De Bruyne would effectively be able to whip in crosses because there would be some marking issues and he would have time on the ball.

This stopped when Hazard dropped deeper to fill the space.  

In the 343, this is a soft spot.  Unfortunately, for City, in order for them to do this, they left themselves exposed at the back.

This is the same reason that I laugh at the "lucky" comments (not necessarily on this forum).  Sure, KDB misses and it's a turning point.  But, they don't get those chances without committing forward like they did, and thus, leave themselves completely exposed at the back.  Didn't score got punished.  Those were the only two scenarios that could happen. 

[robsblubot 3,595]

heh think he's a pretty good player actually at about the same level of Moses. Alonso is very technical while moses relies more on his physicality (pace and power). Very good setup for a team if you have both... 

[Strike 7,489]

Think the club missed a trick in the summer by not trying to sign Raphael Guerreiro from Lorient. He was brilliant in the French Ligue and joined Dortmund early in the window for 8 mil IIRC. There are other options Jonas Hector but Guerreiro is more suited to the 3-4-3 we play. 

I think the club needs to look into this position in January. Is there anyone who can fill in for Alonso if he is unavailable?

[BlueLyon 9,359]

On 08/12/2016 at 7:25 AM, Strike said:

Think the club missed a trick in the summer by not trying to sign Raphael Guerreiro from Lorient. He was brilliant in the French Ligue and joined Dortmund early in the window for 8 mil IIRC. There are other options Jonas Hector but Guerreiro is more suited to the 3-4-3 we play. 

I think the club needs to look into this position in January. Is there anyone who can fill in for Alonso if he is unavailable?

 

On 08/12/2016 at 7:25 AM, Strike said:

Think the club missed a trick in the summer by not trying to sign Raphael Guerreiro from Lorient. He was brilliant in the French Ligue and joined Dortmund early in the window for 8 mil IIRC. There are other options Jonas Hector but Guerreiro is more suited to the 3-4-3 we play. 

I think the club needs to look into this position in January. Is there anyone who can fill in for Alonso if he is unavailable?

Guerreiro is good, but if I regret one defender we didnt go after its Alex Sandro. Back at Porto whenever I saw him he was brilliant and is now showing that at Juve. Very good in defence, attack, quick, and strong. 

[Blue Colored Sky 1,807]

2 hours ago, BlueLyon said:

 

Guerreiro is good, but if I regret one defender we didnt go after its Alex Sandro. Back at Porto whenever I saw him he was brilliant and is now showing that at Juve. Very good in defence, attack, quick, and strong. 

Yeah, I wanted Alex Sandro to replace Ash in 2014 but we signed brilliant Filipe Luis instead. Not bad at all. And in 2015 when we were looking again at LB I remember we were linked with Alex Sandro. I thought his price will be too high especially for a bench warmer but it turned out he costed just a tad more than Baba. We missed a trick but in reality we deserve everything we get after scandalously underutilising Filipe Luis.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

He isn’t the fastest but boy it'll be tough to find someone who works as hard as him if we're replacing him.

He works his socks off 

[Captain Ahmed 528]

Intractable to marking ,he has rarely been caught failing.Very often during that Yesterday Game attempted to bring shifts and calls in depth

[BlueLyon 9,359]

He gets bypassed by quicker players, but he never stops chasing them.

[Vytis33 1,270]

Really like this player...smart footballer, great left foot and solid in the air.  If only could run possibly world class?  When he's in a sprint I always think he's gonna be faster than he is.  Like he's got cement shoes on though. 

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,920]

8 minutes ago, Vytis33 said:

Really like this player...smart footballer, great left foot and solid in the air.  If only could run possibly world class?  When he's in a sprint I always think he's gonna be faster than he is.  Like he's got cement shoes on though. 

Thats really his only bad mark.

 

In our system though it is a death knell. I think we have to look for an improvement. Good option to have, but I think we can find a more complete option to take over the starting role.

[drog.ba 239]

Need someone quicker who can go past a player. Kills us in attack as the other team can just leave him free - then he's the weak link in defence if they've got quick wingers.

Not a bad player but just poorly suited to be a wing back, could end up as the left of the three centre backs

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

Hard for him going back the way with a speed merchant like Zaha but all in all he wasn't that bad was he? Kept at it, wasn't scared to try get in front of him to try and nick it knowing he'd be exposed if he didn't. Gives width going forward and always puts a half decent delivery in. 

[BlueLyon 9,359]

He gets involved in our play alot. Despite his lack of speed (yeah he is the weak link in that aspect), he is very important in our setups for attack, because he is quite intelligent. 

Its real shame he aint faster because thats crucial for the position, otherwise he is definately a very special player. Always 100 concentration, knows how to move and when to pass or cross, when to keep the ball. 

[Milan 17,957]

I so wanted him to score today, he would totally deserve it. In every game you can see that he really cares. Unlucky for him that he needed just a couple of inches to score from that free kick.

[Jase 43,479]

He'll make the odd defensive error or two especially against quicker players (my god, he's so so so slow!) but otherwise, he's pretty decent going forward and is a neat set piece taker, as seen by that free kick today (so unlucky!).

That said, think we could definitely do with an upgrade and provide competition in the squad and while Alonso has coped alright for us in the league, we still don't know how he will fare against the better teams in Europe.