Football's 12th Man

Before his £24million move to Chelsea, you could have been forgiven for thinking Marcos Alonso quite an average player. His resume boasted no high profile names in Fiorentina, Bolton and Sunderland, and he had rarely given critics reason to question this with his performances. So when he became one of the few signings Conte brought in for his debut season, a season in which Chelsea faced a challenge to regain a place in the top 4 after a dismal defence of their title, many were left with a few doubts – was he robust enough to put up with the likes of Harry Kane or Romelu Lukaku? The premier league is famous around the world for being a beautiful combination of technical flair and dogged aggression. Take Xherdan Shaqiri at Stoke for a perfect example. Would he be able to keep up? At 6ft2, he is certainly tall for a wing back. While this may signal a greater aerial presence than most in his position, it usually comes at the expense of speed. This aspect would have been the mos

After handing in a transfer request, it only seems a matter of time before the Southampton stalwart finds a new team. Liverpool have been heavily linked, but their abrasive approach a few months ago may discourage Southampton from doing business. It's unlikely, but a possibility. Chelsea’s defensive frailties and Gary Cahill’s growing age may also convince Van Dijk of the potential to push himself into the first team. It is no doubt that Chelsea lack depth in the centre back position, after selling Ake and letting Zouma leave on loan. Cahill and Luiz, despite outstanding performances last season, are approaching the ends of their careers. Christensen has made a few appearances, but has failed to inspire much stability. The 21 year old does seem to have potential, but Chelsea has rarely been a team to allow youngsters to find their feet – the demand for results is simply too great. Van Dijk’s mentality is something of a question mark however: his earlier coaches Dick L

Now I know what you might think. Silly question, right? The fact of the matter is that this has been one of the more poisonous stories of the summer… something not helped by the fact it has dragged on for months. So who is in the wrong? If you take Costa’s word, it started with a text after the celebrations had died down, a totally unexpected and unwarranted reward for helping his team to the title with 20 league goals. One cold-blooded text from his manager telling him he was surplus to requirements at Chelsea. Now Costa assured the media that this text out-of-the-blue made him powerless to Conte’s wishes. Had he kept a say in the matter, he would have undoubtedly stayed at Chelsea, where he was happy. Notably, Diego Costa has been a key player at Chelsea since his arrival for £32 million in 2014, and alongside Cesc Fabregas, has won 2 Premier League titles in 3 years. It is very easy to imagine that without his contribution, Chelsea would not have been so successfu