Frank Lampard urges unity from his squad in wake of bust-up with Marcos Alonso after defender headed to team bus having been hauled off at half-time in Chelsea’s draw at West Brom
- Alonso was hooked with Chelsea three goals down to West Brom last Saturday
- Defender tried to watch rest of the game on the team bus rather than the stands
- Lampard gave the Spaniard a dressing down in front of his team-mates
- Chelsea manager has stressed the importance of togetherness in his squad
- Blues host Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge in Saturday lunchtime game
Frank Lampard has told his Chelsea players he wants them to ‘stick together in every moment’ after his bust-up with Marcos Alonso.
But he insists the incident will have no bearing on the defender’s future.
Lampard said he cannot afford to hold grudges or let issues linger as he briefly addressed his fallout with the left-back at West Brom.
Marcos Alonso was given a dressing down by Frank Lampard after a poor display at West Brom
Porous Chelsea conceded three sloppy goals inside the opening half an hour at The Hawthorns
Alonso was hauled off at half-time at the Hawthorns with Chelsea 3-0 down and having made two mistakes that led to the home side’s goals.
Alonso then further angered Lampard by getting showered and initially heading to the team coach rather than straight to the stands to watch the rest of the game with the subs earning him a dressing room, dressing down.
Lampard was reluctant to shed any further light on the incident and said: ‘I’m not going to disclose what goes on in the dressing room. I think that would be wrong, so that was it. It was a game we were disappointed to be 3-0 down at half-time.
‘I had to make changes and all I ask from all the players is whatever, for good or for bad, the players stick together in every moment as that is the only thing that brings a successful group so that’s as much as I’ve got to say on it.’
Lampard didn’t go into detail about the incident but stressed the importance of unity
Lampard hauled Alonso off and the defender is said to have headed for the team coach
The future of both of Chelsea’s left-backs, Alonso and Emerson Palmieri, have been uncertain for some time and even more so following the arrival of Ben Chilwell from Leicester.
But Lampard said: ‘It doesn’t affect anything ongoing. I cannot have grudges or feelings in games that carry on.
‘We work, we’re honest with each other and we carry on working to get better and better and things happen during the course of the season, they happen a lot.’