Marcos Alonso outlines key move Thomas Tuchel made to save his season at Chelsea

Marcos Alonso says Thomas Tuchel has given him a new lease of life – after freeing him from the doghouse.

Alonso was frozen out by previous Chelsea boss Frank Lampard after he responded to being taken off at West Brom in September by heading for the team bus.

For 16 Premier League games in a row he did not even make the matchday squad, and was forced to watch his team in action at home.

But the Blues full back is firmly back in favour and was man of the match in Sunday’s 2-0 win at Everton as Chelsea made it 11 games unbeaten under Tuchel.

Alonso said: “Was it frustrating not playing? Yes, of course. I was not getting many chances. It was tough.

“But this is football. Sometimes it is like this. All you can do is keep working hard, keep training and try to be ready for when the chance comes.

“When I am on the pitch it is easier. When I used to stay home it was not easy to help the team.

“But I’m very happy to get involved and to be able to help the team and I’m looking forward to more of this.”

With Tuchel often employing wing-backs, Alonso also has a newfound freedom on the pitch – and he is loving it.

Alonso said: “He gives me the freedom to go forward. Yes. When you are controlling the game like we did today it gives you a little bit more freedom,

“And I am always happy to help the team. If we control the game like we did against Everton, it is not easy to go through the middle.

“So I like to do these runs from wide to inside and I’m happy that I got an assist. I was close to scoring but I have to keep working. Hopefully the next one will go in.”

Chelsea now face Leeds this weekend as one of the favourites to secure a top-four finish this season.

Alonso said: “We need to take advantage of this momentum now and try to keep winning games and get closer to the top. We are doing well.

“Of course we need to enjoy the momentum, but we need to know the only way to arrive at this point is to keep working hard.

“That’s what we have been doing and that’s what we have to keep doing, to keep winning games.”

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