Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has stated that Marcos Alonso didn't feature against Everton on Saturday (August 6) as he is on the cusp of leaving the club.
The Blues started their 2022-23 Premier League campaign with a 1-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park, with Jorginho scoring the only goal of the game via a first-half injury-time penalty.
Alonso, who has been heavily linked (via Fabrizio Romano) with a move to Barcelona this summer, wasn't part of Chelsea's matchday squad. Tuchel admitted after the game that the versatile defender wants to leave Stamford Bridge, with the club granting him his wish.
When asked about Alonso's absence on Merseyside, Tuchel told the press (via Chelsea):
"He asked to leave and we agreed to his wish. That is why it would not have made sense to put him on the pitch."
Alonso joined Chelsea from Fiorentina in 2016 and quickly became a pivotal player for the club over the years. However, with Barcelona interested in signing the defender, the Blues hierarchy have agreed to his exit from the club.
Chelsea notably renewed Cesar Azpilicueta's contract, while also signing Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella to shore up their defense this summer. Earlier in the summer, centre-backs Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen left the club on free transfers.
"We struggled a bit" - Thomas Tuchel discusses Chelsea's defense against Everton
While they took home three points, the win was not impressive, at least by Tuchel's standards. The German tactician was not pleased with his side scoring just one goal. He was also concerned about the defense.
Speaking to the press after the game (via SuperSport), Tuchel said:
"All three of our players in the back three are in their 30s and we struggled a bit in general at the end of the game. We need to improve our physical level and we are on it."
Although Tuchel felt the Blues could have defended better towards the end of the game, Everton could only manage just four shots on target over the course of the 90 minutes.
Paul Merson has predicted all the GW 1 fixtures of the Premier League. More details right here
Comiopruy
0
Good information
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What were you smoking
fourthorty430
1
it will make no sense to put him on the bench or still have him at Chelsea at all.. sell him off.
cayaelsz
1
Good information
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Great team. This would win UCL
_Brarm
1
Good information
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What is this bro🫣😭 Man you don’t even know who’s midfielder, defender, winger & striker 😂
joacdikmor
1
Chelsea we need de Jong for the mindfeed
piwbdklny
2
jorginho's time is up
jhornnelson
2
they should loan jorginho and odoi
jhornnelson
2
Chelsea should sign de jong and never sell jorginho
Hanaipr
0
Good information
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u have a little sense of this line up...?? plz watching football before made any formation...
Single-Bone
1
Let Alonso go! he'll surely get less game time in Barca. No way they'll bench Alba for him. And then he's going to a club struggling financially, chances are that they will manipulate him into taking a pay cut. I strongly feel this isn't a wise choice for him as Tuchel was beginning to trust him more now than ever. I like him because of the goals in him but Cucurella looks a 100 times better than him overall, so no problems! We got a better replacement just like we did with Kouli over Rudiger.
sodbelptz
1
Good information
Midris
0
pls we don need lustuf cheek at all pls send him out
Cuueikrtyz
1
The defense was ok now we need to concentrate on the attack
faodeklmrt
1
sign Ronaldo and de Jong
Sam565
0
we need de Jong and aubameyang then jorginho should go
yes depay too. Just 200mil will do
pebbknpst
5
we need de Jong and aubameyang then jorginho should go
lasabioptz
2
I don't know why he has put all effort on defense more than strikers both are equally needed. pls sign a striker
Dynamics222
0
We need de jong or milankovic savic
Dynamics222
2
Some players should go so we can buy players
mikceiny
3
Please Chelsea sing de Jong
Vombeoru
0
holly