Lampard defends Alonso and is ‘not aware’ of talks to sell Emerson
Frank Lampard has insisted that criticism of Marcos Alonso in the wake of Chelsea’s midweek defeat at West Ham has been unfair.
Lampard’s former England team-mate Gary Neville. speaking on Sky Sports, accused Alonso of costing his side the game after the left-back was woefully slow to track back in the build up to West Ham’s late winner.
But Blues boss Lampard, who defended his back four after the match, continues to state that he believes the whole team should take responsibility for several errors made during the 3-2 defeat.
“It’s much easier to comment from afar,” Lampard said.
“I don’t think it’s quite fair to just look at Marcos.
“In that isolated incident, yes, he can recover and we can recover better as a team.
“But that has to be something fundamental to the team. You have to run backwards as much as you run fast forward.
“I can’t complain about that with the team this year.
“When you isolate one goal because it’s so crucial it wins the points, fair enough. But I know with my players that generally we have a desire to press very well off the ball.
“It was a game where we slipped up – not just that mistake but other mistakes – and we lost the game for it.”
Lampard added that he has seen no need to speak to Alonso about the criticism the Spaniard has received.
Self-critical
“I haven’t spoken to him about it.” Lampard explained.
“It’s a dangerous game to comment on every pundit, because you’d probably have to have conversations with all your players every week.
“If I felt a player needed help or support in those situations I would do.
“Myself and the players are probably the biggest self-critics. We analyse games, go over them and talk with the players individually or collectively.
“That’s my main focus, not so much what comes from outside.”
Chelsea to sell Emerson?
Speaking at a news conference via video on Friday afternoon, Lampard also said he was “not aware” of talks between Chelsea and Inter Milan over the possible sale of Emerson Palmieri to the Italian club.
Reports in Italy have suggested that Inter, managed by ex-Blues boss Antonio Conte, are discussing a deal to sign Emerson.
It comes amid speculation that Emerson and Alonso could both be offloaded this summer.
England international Ben Chilwell is among the left-backs to be linked with Chelsea and Lampard is expected to strengthen the position.
“What I am doing is focusing on the team and the squad day to day,” Lampard said.
“I don’t have any real conversations about the transfer window, whether it’s about who we might bring in or who might leave the club.
“Those are obviously questions we’ll need to answer come the end of the season when the window opens, but I certainly don’t want to be swayed by rumour or gossip.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic has been sidelined by an Achilles injury.
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