“It wouldn’t be fair to isolate Marcos … it’s easy to comment from afar”: Frank Lampard responds to Gary Neville’s scathing attack on Alonso after he claimed that the defender “cost Chelsea the game” against West Ham
- Frank Lampard has responded to Gary Neville for his criticism of Marcos Alonso
- Alonso failed to track down West Ham winner’s build-up midweek
- Gary Neville claimed that the Spaniard had “cost Chelsea the game”
- Lampard defended Alonso, saying it is “easy to comment from afar” on Friday
Frank Lampard has defended Marcos Alonso after the Spanish failed to track the build-up of the latest West Ham winner on Wednesday night.
Gary Neville slammed the defender down for his pitiful defense and claimed he had “cost Chelsea the game” after allowing Andriy Yarmolenko to score in halftime.
However, Lampard responded to Neville and said it was “easy to comment from afar” when asked about the Hammers’ winning goal at his press conference on Friday.
Frank Lampard (pictured) has responded to Gary Neville for his criticism of Marcos Alonso
Alonso (left) was unable to track and prevent Andriy Yarmolenko from scoring a winning goal
‘They [full-backs] have the responsibility to do both [attack and defend] And that is important, “said Lampard.” It is not easy with isolated “cuts”: it is much easier to comment from afar.
‘We try to play soccer. We try to be progressive, but we do not do it with the idea of wanting to grant objectives. And make-up races are a big part of football and players should do it whether it’s the first few minutes or the 90 minutes.
So I don’t think it’s fair to look at Marcos in that isolated incident. Yes, he can recover, we can recover better as a team, but that has to be fundamental for the team. Players must have the desire to run backwards as much as they run forward.
“And sometimes you have to have the desire to make races difficult, whatever they are to help the team.” I can’t complain about that with the team this year, but if you isolate a goal that is so crucial because it wins the points, it’s fair. But I know with my players that, in general, we want to press the ball very well and when we get over it we will recover and get there.
“It is a game where we made mistakes, not just that mistake but other mistakes and we lost the game because of it.”
Neville, photographed Tuesday night, launched a scathing attack on Alonso’s defensive efforts.
Alonso was nowhere to be seen when Yarmolenko finished a sublime counterattack late
Replays of Alonso’s defensive efforts led Neville to lower himself as he commented on the game.
Neville said: ‘You see that Yarmolenko is back there with Alonso. Look at it, look at it, look at it. What are you doing Marcos Alonso? What are you doing? There is the speed of your runner.
“It has cost Chelsea the game, along with a poor defense from Rudiger.
‘Marcos Alonso is at his level (Yarmolenko) at the point where that counterattack begins and he does not bother.
“I mentioned it before and that’s why he’s under pressure at this soccer club.” Frank Lampard will see it.
‘Run back as fast as you can when your team loses the ball. You learn that at six years old.
Former West Ham defender James Collins added: ‘Alonso never shows a desire to return. As a manager, you would be furious with the way he came back.
It comes with Alonso’s position at the club under increasing scrutiny with the Blues desperate to sign a left back this summer.
Chelsea has teamed up with Leicester’s Ben Chiwell as they try to buy a new left back
After signing Timo Werner of RB Leipzig and Hakim Ziyech of Ajax, Lampard is expected to strengthen his defense next.
Leicester City’s Ben Chilwell is believed to be his number one target, but Foxes manager Brendan Rodgers has warned Chelsea that he will not let the England star go cheap.
It remains to be seen how much is left in Lampard’s transfer budget, given the huge outlay on attacking players.
But if Chilwell is not a viable option, Nicolas Tagliafico of Ajax and Alex Telles of Porto would have been aligned like other targets.
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