"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain".
As brutal as that opening line may be in a clear reference to the departure of Marcos Alonso, I cannot help but feel it is appropriate. Maybe it is more fitting to refer to a film franchise that has gone on for too long. The first Die Hard was the good one. What number of Fast and Furious are they on now?
Alonso's biggest detriment was the feeling he stayed around far too long and, by the end, represented more of what was wrong with Chelsea than what was right.
Few players in the post-2017 title years have come to encompass Chelsea better than Alonso. Sporadic moments of brilliance turn attention away from consistent underperformance.
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Alonso always had the big goal in him, but these would appear after long stretches of poor displays, baffling errors and deep frustration.
It feels far too long ago, he was the transformative figure holding up three fingers on the touchline at the Emirates Stadium, ushering in something fresh and exciting. He, along with Victor Moses, offered a lot of spark to a truly incredible run of form under Antonio Conte that produced a cherished title haul that dazzled the Stamford Bridge crowd.
It was then when Alonso was classified as a bit of a hidden gem in the transfer market, bought from Fiorentina for £24m on deadline day in August of 2016, the same day another key player of that title win in David Luiz arrived.
In his first season, he burst down the wing with fervour, he barged defenders out of the way. His free kicks were regularly dangerous, an area of the pitch was marked out as “Alonso territory” whenever he would stand over the ball.
Even if the second season under Conte was pretty miserable, he still offered some of his most memorable moments. The double at Wembley against Spurs is probably the performance that will stick in the minds of most supporters.
It has become a bit of an urban myth in the years since that Alonso always scores against Spurs. It came to my shock in the run-up to the latest encounter with the North London club that he only had three to his name - two in August 2017 and the other under Frank Lampard in February of 2020. But to lovers of Chelsea, winners away at Spurs count for double.
Once Conte left, though, Alonso's career had already hit its peak. He was the coach who had the most use for him, or probably more fairly, the inspiration of a coach and the hot streak of one player coincided at the perfect moment.
As many Chelsea players over the past five years have struggled with, being valuable under one coach does not guarantee longevity or usefulness in a culture that dispenses with them so frequently.
Alonso's attributes under Conte fit smoothly, but under Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard, who wanted to play in a four-man defence and control a lot more of the ball, things quickly became awkward. His extreme one-footedness, lack of speed and clumsy tackling would soon find him under a harsher spotlight than before.
The decision to hand Alonso a new contract in the Autumn of 2018 feels now like a misstep, one that may have hurt the player's own motivation, given this is someone who, before his rise at Chelsea, had played for Sunderland and Bolton in the Premier League.
Another wider trend in the final years of Roman Abramovich's ownership was the club misjudging when a player's value was at its highest and being brave enough to sell to refresh key areas of the squad.
Alonso never again reached the consistency under Conte. In truth, few players at Chelsea have, and that is a wider problem, but one that relates back to Alonso soon becoming a senior figure in the dressing room.
His high wages became a barrier to a sale in the pandemic-effected summer of 2020 when Ben Chilwell was bought for £50m – the strongest indication of a succession plan, and that was probably the right moment for the Spaniard to be sold on.
We can get to his alleged behaviour behind the scenes. The widely reported spat with Lampard at The Hawthorns against West Brom.
After being hooked after an abject first half, he allegedly stormed off to the team bus when he was supposed to sit in the stands supporting his teammates during the COVID-impacted season. If reports are to be believed, an act from a senior member of the dressing room that was highly unprofessional and led to a period out of the team, again, probably the mark he should have been let go.
But in some ways, Alonso ended up being rewarded. Lampard was sacked four months later, and Thomas Tuchel brought him back into a system familiar to the one he thrived in under Conte. There was a volley against Burnley and a brief upturn before Chilwell returned to the team, and Alonso settled back into a familiar form.
However, another alleged spat with Tuchel in the dressing room at half-time against Wolves back in May further painted a negative picture. It must be noted that both Chelsea and Tuchel deny this ever happened.
Alonso was then completely absent on the final day against Watford amid speculation he was off to Barcelona.
Although it has been prolonged, Tuchel made it clear Alonso now wants to leave Chelsea for Barcelona and has been absent from the matchday squads in all five of Chelsea's opening games. The signing of Marc Cucurella from Brighton was the final statement that there would be no future for the 31-year-old under Tuchel.
Many will point to those goals, the ones which were usually of high quality and of importance. However, the longer he stayed, the less impact they had in hiding the flaws that became clearer to see.
Alonso's reputation is not as strong as it could have been had the club realised his specialities lay within one system. He now departs in an overdue manner as Todd Boehly aims to revamp a squad cluttered with players of the past.
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