Despite Marcos Alonso’s excellent start to the season, his time starting may be short-lived

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Although Marcos Alonso has made an excellent start to the new season, questions marks still surround his performances.

The Spaniard has scored once and played a part in other goals in Chelsea’s winning start under new boss Maurizio Sarri.

And he was a vital cog in Antonio Conte’s wing-back formation – proving an attacking thrust down the left-hand side.

But Sarri’s change of system has exposed Alonso’s flaws.

Not someone who is renowned for his defensive skill, playing as a conventional left-back in a back four has required Alonso to take on more defensive responsibilities.

And against Arsenal – although Chelsea won – Alonso’s frailties were exposed regularly.

These weaknesses could be tolerated when playing as a wing-back due to the increased cover he had from an extra central defender.

But when asked to defend one-on-one with wingers, Alonso often looks lost.

Also, the well documented ‘Sarri-ball’ that the new manager is looking to impose has certain demands.

At Napoli, Sarri turned Faouzi Ghoulam from an average left-back to a superstar by tapping into the Algerians ability to use his pace and excellent delivery to assist in an attacking sense.

Alonso – whilst obviously skilled going forward – doesn’t possess the same pace as Ghoulam.

And against Newcastle on Sunday, Alonso was presented with numerous opportunities to overlap or cross, and disappointed with both.

Sarri prefers his left-backs to possess the ability to get up and down quickly – something that Alonso lacks.

The only saving grace for Alonso is that with so little competition in the squad – Emerson Palmieri is the only other left-back in the squad – his position may be safe.