EPL: Carragher Spots Chelsea Star Struggling With Alonso’s System

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Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has pointed to Maxence Lacroix as the Chelsea centre-back who appears to be having difficulties adapting to Xabi Alonso’s tactical approach.

Carragher believes the £52 million summer recruit from Crystal Palace may not possess the mobility required to handle the intense man-to-man defensive duties demanded by Alonso’s system.

Speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, presented by Sky Bet, the former Liverpool star praised Lacroix’s displays in Crystal Palace’s three-man defensive setup but questioned whether he could perform equally well in a back four.

His comments followed Chelsea’s 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham on October 24, as well as his assessment of the club’s performances in other matches this season.

He said, “But I look at the signing of Maxence Lacroix, and I really liked him at Crystal Palace in a back three.

“But I was watching him against Tottenham and in other games this season, and I was seeing him pressing man-to-man, and everyone was jumping out, and it just didn’t look comfortable to me, or mobile enough to be in a back four and jumping out of man-to-man marking and jumping out to James Maddison.”

Lacroix, 26, joined Chelsea from Crystal Palace in July and signed a six-year contract. He has played in all eight of Chelsea’s Premier League matches, mainly operating at the heart of a five-man defence. However, he has also been used as a right centre-back when Alonso has switched to a four-defender formation.

Carragher went on to assess Chelsea’s defensive options, describing the overall quality of the unit as average.

“Their performances are consistently average, ranging from six to seven out of ten.

“The squad lacks an exceptional individual capable of anchoring the defence or providing cohesive leadership. The collective impression remains decidedly unremarkable,” he said.

Despite his criticism of Chelsea’s defensive performances, Carragher praised Josh Acheampong’s displays at right-back, highlighting the academy graduate’s progress under Alonso’s management.

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