Maurizio Sarri has explained his decision to drop Alonso.
“Of course, but it depends on the period,” Sarri said when asked if he still rated Alonso so highly.
“In this period, Emerson is doing really well, so I have to use him. It depends the mental and physical condition.
“It can happen that, in 11 months, you have one or two not at the top. It’s not a big problem. Fortunately, Emerson now is in a very good physical mental and physical condition.”
Alonso has been the first choice left back in the team for a long time now and he has done really well until this season. The Spaniard was slow and dampening attacks on the left flank leaving Eden Hazard without necessary back up.
He was also a liability defensively and hence Sarri decided to do away with him for the big match. It seems like Emerson could be here to stay. The Brazilian is fast, defends well and crosses early; all things Alonso was failing to do.
However, in football you never say never. More so with Chelsea as they often change managers and with a change in manager, it is not far away to change players and we are yet to see how long Sarri stays.
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