Marcos Alonso is Chelsea’s new Branislav Ivanovic right down to his pace

A generation born playing FIFA cannot see past Marcos Alonso’s pace. He is the new Branislav Ivanovic: slower, smarter, and vital to Chelsea in every way.

Pace is a much over hyped aspect of football in the modern era. Is it important? Sure. But rarely does pure pace come in to play when a team is set up appropriately. It is a criticism born from EA Sports’ FIFA franchise where the faster player is usually the better player.

Far more important is positioning. Awareness. Vision. Things that are hard to see without honing in on a player directly. Those are the true traits that separate the good players from the average and the bad.

Marcos Alonso is a fine case of that. Here is a player who is full of tenacity, often finds himself in the right place at the right time, and is good on the ball. But what is the most common thing said about him? He is slow. And it is hard not to draw comparisons between the Spanish leftback and Chelsea’s former Serbian rightback Branislav Ivanovic. Both are cut from the same cloth.

Ivanovic joined Chelsea during a tumultuous time. Jose Mourinho had already departed (the first time) and Chelsea was seemingly getting a new manager every few months. Ivanovic, unfit and used to playing centerback at the time, was asked to play at rightback.

He was immediately revealed to be an incredibly slow player. Many criticized him for it and he was regularly linked with transfers away. But Ivanovic remained and would over time prove himself to nearly every manger. Ivanovic was not fast, no, but that was something he could overcome with his positioning and vision.

It was never an uncommon sight to see Ivanovic bombing down the right side of the pitch. Nor was it uncommon to see him whip blistering balls into the box. Did he get caught out so high up? Sure. But he more than made up for that in other ways.

Ivanovic more or less peaked in the 2014/2015 season as Chelsea had one of the highest scoring defenses but also the stingiest. They let nothing through as they scored goal after goal in rampant fashion. And though Mourinho put the handbrake on in the latter half of the season, it is worth remembering how buccaneering the Blues were before 2015 began.

But then Ivanovic fell out of form. Things he was confident with were suddenly not coming off. And that is when his pace became an actual issue and not a weak point of criticism. He never recovered in form during his remaining time at Chelsea, but that should not hide how much he contributed to the club and how he was once a genuine fan favorite.

Alonso is the same. Does he get caught out from time to time? Yes and Maurizio Sarri’s style leaves the fullbacks exposed anyways. But Alonso more than makes up for it time and time again. There is a reason both Antonio Conte and now Sarri keep playing Alonso and why neither was/is keen to toss Emerson in. It is because he is a smart player.

Maybe one day Alonso loses his confidence like Ivanovic did and gets found out. Both are players who play the game between their ears as opposed to on their feet. That is a fine line to follow at times. But that is likely years away. Alonso is a fantastic player who is vital to Chelsea’s machine. Sarri sees it and it is time for fans to look past his pace and trust the manager. Then maybe Alonso can become as revered as Ivanovic became after the Serbian’s early struggles.