Marcos Alonso struggled to keep his head above the water in Chelsea's 2-1 win over Lille, hanging on to his teammates as the Blues sailed into the Champions League quarter-final. The 31-year-old, who despite having been labelled a 'specialist' by Thomas Tuchel, fell victim to the waves of Les Dogues' pressure, exposing himself - once again - as the hole in the Blues' defence.
With no more than five minutes to spare, Chelsea were pinned back against the wall and Alonso was spun inside out by Lille defender Tiago Djaló. The Spain international's flat-footed defending opened an avenue of attack for his opposition and, had it not been for reinforcements, Lille could've mounted a late comeback.
Alonso's moment of embarrassment typified what was a shaky night to forget which saw Stade Pierre-Mauroy's intimidating atmosphere take the defender prisoner. Despite having shown glimpses of magic at Chelsea since joining Fiorentina in 2016 for £24m, Tuchel can no longer rely on the Spaniard to maintain an elite level of focus or consistency.
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The west London club are bound by Roman Abramovich's sanctioning by the UK Government until a new owner takes helm at Stamford Bridge. Tuchel must look in-house for Ben Chilwell's next understudy and the German boss must copy Jurgen Klopp's tactic which transformed Trent Alexander-Arnold into one of the world's best players - by throwing a youngster in the deep end.
Cobham is armed with both Lewis Hall and Dylan Williams, the latter of which is a more natural left wing-back, as prospective candidates ready to follow Alexander-Arnold's example. Tuchel must take his eggs out of Alonso's basket and put them in theirs.
Hall, who made his debut for Chelsea against Chesterfield in January, has often featured in the left channels, whether it be left centre-half of a three, full-back or centre-midfield. Williams, however, only swapped Pride Park for Stamford Bridge in January and is yet to make a senior appearance for the Blues.
But, despite this, the 18-year-old from Derby County has enjoyed more minutes of men's football, having featured nine times under Wayne Rooney. Williams is a more natural operator on the left-wing, making him the obvious choice to replace Alonso.
Whether Tuchel decides to promote either Hall or Williams, the risk and reward are far higher than by playing the 31-year-old; Chelsea can invest time into a long-term project instead of simply feeding off Alonso's moments of magic.
