Marcos Alonso admits he found being frozen out by Frank Lampard at Chelsea tough but believes it is normal to have a "manager who doesn't like you."
The Spaniard played 29 times for the Blues during Lampard's first campaign at the helm but, following a poor performance against West Bromwich Albion in September in which he was culpable for two goals, Alonso became persona non grata at Stamford Bridge.
Lampard was, per The Athletic, furious with Alonso after the game at the Hawthorns because of his display and the fact that, after being withdrawn at half time, he initially went to watch the second half on the team bus rather than join his team-mates in the stands.
Alonso didn't feature under Lampard again and wasn't even included in another Premier League match-day squad by the club legend until his departure at the end of January.
"In everyone’s career in football you have good times and bad times, even if you are Messi or Ronaldo, the best players ever," Alonso told Chelsea's website.
"A manager that doesn’t like you is absolutely normal, and it’s about the way you take it.
"My dad told me if it were him in his times, his father, my grandfather, would say ‘tell the manager where to go, I will go to the owner and say I’m leaving!’. My dad always tells me he wasn’t that lucky in terms of the advice from my grandfather!
"He took the good things. He has always taught me to work hard and be ready in tough times. I am a professional and I have to be ready and focused."
Things have quickly changed for the 30-year-old at Stamford Bridge over the past six weeks. He has been reintegrated into the side by Thomas Tuchel and used in his favoured left wing-back role.
Alonso has featured in eight of Chelsea's last 11 matches and started high-profile victories against Tottenham Hotspur, Atletico Madrid and Everton.
It's far cry from the fourth-month spell on the sidelines under Lampard, during which the United Kingdom was twice plunged into national lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
"It was tough," he said. "The pandemic is tough for everyone. You see a lot of people dying, a lot of friends and close family suffering a bit from the virus.
"It’s difficult. If you add to that difficult times at work, it’s even more difficult, but you have to continue with life outside the pitch.
"From my experience, the only way to turn things around is to work hard and be ready for the time the opportunity comes. Sometimes this happens in the same team, sometimes maybe you go somewhere else and you have to be ready anyway.
"I have been training very hard, even harder than usual, and trying to keep my mind on my fitness levels and making sure I was ready when the time came."
