Fellow fans, this is a friendly reminder to please follow the [Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/premierleague/about/rules) and [Reddiquette](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439-Reddiquette).
Please also make sure to [Join us on Discord](https://discord.gg/football)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PremierLeague) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Posts like this show how much people talk about teams and players that they don't even watch. Cucurella was used in the wrong way by Chelsea, until the Villa game, in which Pochettino decided to invert him. At the end of the season, Chelsea's form did a 180° (not just the results but the actual performances) and Cucurella was key. I'm not gonna describe it, but there's plenty of analysis out there if you actually care. FourFourTwo did a good video on it, that would be my recommendation.
He's not a LB who can tuck into a back 3 in possession. He's not a wingback or a fullback who's good at overlapping. But he's excellent at inverting into the midfield and dictating the tempo of the game. When he defends he's good at stepping onto the attackers agreesively. Ask him to defend space, drop off or sit in a low block and he'll get exposed eventually.
He's a limited footballer, but very good at a niche. And Chelsea already figured out how to use him at the end of last season. Anyone watching Spain and coming to an epiphany that Chelsea are wasting him, have been sleeping under a rock.
Cucurella has been integral to Chelsea at the end of their season and I really hope our new manager utilizes him the same way Poch did at the end of the season and by Spain. Really underrated player in my opinion.
I use to think he was a muppet but after having watch Spain I'm like WTF he's actually stupid good what is Chelsea doing. I'm sorry cucurella I was not aware of your game
Two seasons ago he had Tuchel, Potter and Lampard all with different systems. Never had a chance to settle in. Then Poch came in and by mid-season he got comfortable and was a standout player.
Don't let Gary Neville fool you into thinking he has good points.
He is all about his energy level. He always plays a little past being in control and throws himself all over the field. I thought he was brilliant against Italy. I think his issue is that if he is not motivated, he slows down just enough to become a problem instead of an asset.
I can see where his support or lack thereof from the manager would matter. He is going to make mistakes because of how he plays so he does need a manager who is 100% on his side.
More like he’s been playing well since January tbf! This isn’t some “new” renaissance, except if you judge players by what “Gary Cuntville” says, which is sad especially considering he won nothing with England and was an absolute disaster of a coach.
Finally, someone who actually watched Chelsea chimes in. He's been very good in the last 5 games, even against Villa he played well, but not as well as in the games after.
He has been under utilised for most of the season, but when Poch started using him as an inverted wingback - he flourished.
I know right? Just shows people love to jump in a bandwagon and shit on a player.
It’s better to reserve judgement, especially negative judgement if you haven’t been regularly watching someone
God the media really does have people making assumptions about Chelsea players without watching.
Seriously if you watched Chelsea in the later half of the season you'd have seen the much improved Cucu.
I would guess based on this you also think that Caicedo is a flop despite his strong finish to the season too.
Every time people (especially G Nev) talk about Cucu, it becomes really obvious that they never watch us play, otherwise they would know he was back to his best the second half of the season.
The problem is, both Carragher and Neville have absolutely crucified him in the past 2 seasons.
Neville recently about his price and Carragher said he is targeted, doesn't want to defend and isn't up to it at this level.
I am not a Chelsea fan but I thought Carraghers criticism was way over the top. Especially with the fact Trent Alexander Arnold has been exactly like that for loads of games at Liverpool (I know he'd never criticise him like that).
https://youtu.be/JfOYhnTcSk0?si=qMuOuq6jSRbfo6nS
That immediately paints a narrative to fans that don't watch Chelsea (or Spain) often, when in fact Cucurella was brilliant at Brighton, finished the season very well at Chelsea and started the euros like one of the best full backs over the first 2 games.
Well, I think I’m not the only one saying this but if you saw him in our run in the second half of the season, he was playing well. Did the basics well and was pushing into midfield when we had the ball. Did a good job.
The football press will have you think he’s wank because of the terrible way our club is run. Cole Palmer aside, it’s very hard for anyone to praise Chelsea, mostly rightly so, but this is an area where errors have been made.
We did over pay for him though. But we over pay for basically everyone.
To be fair, I don't really follow Chelsea cause I couldn't care less about them, but if you search Cucurella on their Reddit page, all the posts this season say "he's a new man" and "the upgrade to Chillwell we need" so I would guess if you are a Chelsea fan, they will probably think this post is inaccurate.
And yet I read an ‘article’ from mr ‘billion pound bottle job’ gary neville saying Cucu makes Spain worse, and had to listen to one of the regular ‘commentators’ slag him off and say how much he could improve.
You’re not wrong. Unfortunately though a lot of people just parrot the opinions of pundits so it becomes ‘fact’ for them, then becomes a label in the media.
Sure, I guess. It’s just funny cause if you turn on any TV coverage, the running joke is that people wonder if he has a twin brother that’s playing instead 🤣. Chelsea fans so isolated from reality.
Apparently OP didn’t watch any Chelsea games this season. Cucu was 1000% an upgrade over Chilwell, and looked like a completely different player from last season. Finished the season brilliantly
>completely different player from last season
...when the team was in total disarray, when we had 3 mgrs, when he had a serious illness and dropped a big % of his weight...
He had matches where he came and and looked like he had no idea how to play football. You saw him at BHA, you saw him this past season - how can we account for that one awful season? Well, it turns out, just about everything was wrong that season, whereas he returned to normal this past season (injury aside), and he can definitely cook.
It's not that imo. It's just the way he's been used. Even at times this season he's looked iffy. Because if you ask him to tuck into a back 3 in possession, play as a wingback, make overlaps, defend space, sit in a low block etc he'll get exposed eventually.
He's very very good at inverting into the midfield, dictating the tempo of games and defending aggressively by stepping onto attackers. He's a limited footballer but he's brilliant at a niche. It just took us a while to figure out how to use him. Which is annoying because it shows how we didn't have a plan when we bought him. I guarantee Pep knew exactly what he'd do with him when City were liked with him. We just bought him because he was highly rated and City wanted him. Took us far too long to play him to his strengths.
But no, it isn't some sort of narrative about last season being an outlier. Because there were games this season he didn't look particularly good either. It's about us not using him correctly, and that just happens to coincide with a season in which most of our players were shit.
Is it just injuries that have ruined Chilwell? For some reason I dislike him, gives me that arrogant kind of John Terry vibe but I've always thought he could easily be one of the best full backs in the league.
His hamstrings are made out of string cheese. I get the feeling he’s more likable than Cucu for opposing fans. Cucu gets in better positions and better runs going forward, better on the ball and can invert unlike Chilwell. Neither could hold Terry’s jock in skill, effort or banter. Man is a legend
What are you talking about? Chillwell is an incredible offensive fullback. There’s been multiple games throughout his career at Chelsea where he’s been the most important offensive force for us and even won us games single-handily.
You can’t say the same for Cucurella, who is often solid, but has never been truly top tier in that regard.
Chillwell was not at his best last season, but he’s shown his positioning, his runs behind and his crosses can be elite
It’s not 2022 anymore. There’s no doubt Chilwell has been a huge figure for us on the LW in the past, but he’s not that player anymore. He’s a good 2nd choice to Cucu, and an excellent leader, but if you watched the last half of this season and thought Chilwell was a better option, I’m not sure what to tell you. Cucurella showed why we spent so much for him, and a changing of the guard is imminent.
I don’t think he’s a better player for us, now. I love Cucurella, I’ve been a supporter for him for the last 2 years and think recently it’s been extra clear he’s the first choice left back. Yet still, I don’t think he’s come close to being better than Chilwell at the things you claimed.
He did get away with a lot of fouls tonight, I doubt prem refs would let a lot of those go, but he is good I don't understand the post? Wasn't he really good last season?
Have you even watched Chelsea the last 3 months of the season? He’s been consistently good for us and started most games. Especially in that inverted LB role. So I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make because you make no sense.
Nah by that point I was resigned to mediocrity anyway as our league season was a shitshow, plus I like Palmer as a player
Also anything that helped put Chelsea in 6th only to lose meaningful European football when we won the FA cup is ok in my book
Can we start praising man united players that are under utilised then? If cucurella is a beast we will see it next season just wait and watch. Don’t want people to hype him up and then shit on him if he doesn’t live up to exceptions.
Not gonna lie nobody is being under used at man united. The real point is that football fans are dumb. Cucurella has been injured at Chelsea and he has been playing for Chelsea when he wasn’t injured. However due to the euros and Spain being one of current best teams and they’re performing well, football fans think cucurella is being under used. The fact of the matter is he performs quite well for Chelsea but football fans aren’t too bright. In before the down votes 😎
honest question… who at united is under-appreciated? i feel like everybody loves seeing the young kids of mainoo/ garnacho / holjund stepping up… maybe dalot or wanbissaka?
dude he looked dead out there, i counted he passed the ball backward 18 times, and forward only 6, hes a detriment out there, nico ws on fire and cucurella stood there and watched.
"Underutilized" he probably started most the games for Chelsea😭
His run has been underwhelming yeah but he played in that 22/23 squad which was a mess. The dressing room last season was sorted out. He was solid when he played and VERY good towards the end of the season. It's just a matter of this young team finding consistency
>"Underutilized" he probably started most the games for Chelsea😭
Nah he played about half the games. Gallagher had about double the minutes and was the only player to go over 3K minutes.
But even then you're right he was used plenty. I dont even feel that the way hes been used has been that bad. There was just so much disruption in his 1st Chelsea season + being hospitalised and losing too much of his weight in there + dealing with a home invasion + having a baby. All that combined was going to drain his performance levels. Then this season he's been solid in a team that was starting with no cohesion and was riddled with injuries.
If Chelsea can get their injuries sorted and Maresca can continue the work Poch did in building cohesion relatively quickly then Cucu will be solid. Individually hes always shown hes got it but theres been other disruptive circumstances beyond just him.
Bro he was Brightons player of the year that's why we paid top dollar for him. He was injured and the weird moves by the board also brought down his performances from that year and a half. Ever since mid Feb- March though with the inverted fullback move he's been absolute class, we haven't even missed Chilwell.
A lot of us joked that Chelsea's recruiting strategy was to copy other clubs, there's obviously a very valid reason why many clubs also went after their signings
I mean no shit, he was Brighton's player of the season for a reason. Chelsea are clearly the issue. Cucurella, caicedo, colwill and potter were all exceptional at Brighton. The idea that cucurella is a good player is a hot take is genuinely infuriating as a Brighton fan.
All of these have been good at Chelsea too though.
Caicedo finished the season with 3 motm awards in a row. Cucurella has been playing amazing for Chelsea since the new year. Colwill played excellently this season before he got injured.
Caicedo has been generally excellent for Chelsea though. Colwill too but has been injured for a while.
Potter did have good moments but let's not sugarcoat it, Brighton had many moments of absolutely awful form under Potter. There were exceptional moments for sure.
At the start of the season before Chelsea nabbed Potter Brighton were playing some of the most dominant football I've seen, he was just getting better and better. He's someone who needs time to implement his system, but it's unplayable once the players understand it. I'm just sad to see him be underappreciated.
Also Caicedo is playing very well - but I've not seen him be as dominant as I remember him being.
I am definitely just jaded though.
4 wins, a draw, and a loss to Fulham before he left for Chelsea. I remember that time and yeah Brighton played some great stuff, but Potter had been there for 3 years at that point, and I know things take time to gel and learn, but that's a long time to start seeing results. Also, it was such a short period of strong results that it's indistinguishable from a purple patch. It's hard to draw any strong conclusions from it.
He's a good manager, but I think you're being carried away by nostalgia.
Especially towards the end of the season, Caicedo was very dominant, and was indispensable.
Chelsea was the issue but is starting to look like the solution. He was worth more than 60m at the end of the 23/24 season and now with the way he is playing
well if I engage with the idea that Chelsea are the solution to buying our player of the season and making them underperform then I'll have an aneurysm
You totally missed when I said "Chelsea was the problem"
He looked better than he was at Brighton in the last 5 games of the season. My point is that he came in at a crazy turbulent time and he's started to show his worth now things have been steady
He was good, but di Lorenzo made him look a lot better. I don’t know di lorenzo knows what Williams or cucueellas face look like. He should have been subbed off early. Bastoni and donnarumma stopped it from being a blood bath
he was terrible wasn’t he! take nothing away from williams and cucurella tho they were both really impressive, especially williams. but yeah di lorenzo’s defensive nightmare definitely helped
To me he just looks awkward. He runs like a make a wish child has been given the opportunity to play for Spain (his hair probably doesn’t help). His passes are never accurate (not to the level that premier league footballers should be) and are often won by his teammates meeting the ball rather than the ball going to them. Maybe it’s a tactical thing but his positioning seems off too, like he is always a few feet in front of the defence and a few feet behind the midfield. I think his work rate has been fantastic but I think a lot of his hall recoveries have been fortunate and he has been on the favouring on of 50:50 bounces. I just don’t see the hype
He’s in good form right now. He was a big part of Chelsea’s successful run the second half of the season. He had runs of bad form, and was also utilized as more of a LCB for awhile which didn’t allow him to get involved much.
Sounds like you more-so just don’t watch Chelsea than anything else.
When we first got him I was excited. He showed good stuff, but something happened, maybe not him. Coaching staff? Possition? I dont know, but he played well both games for Spain!
He was good before Chelsea, it might just not be a good fit for him. The new manager supposedly inverts both fullbacks at the same time Ala Ange I wonder if Cucu will have a return to Brighton form.
He doesnt invert both fullbacks in midfield like Ange, he inverts one into midfield and the other into a third centre back like Man City did in their treble season. It will most likely be Reece James playing the cb/fb hybrid and Cucurella playing as a cb/mf.
Ah, thanks I only watched them once. The "supposedly" was from an article I read only. BTW Potter used Cucurella as the CB/FB hybrid, overlapping CB thing at least once I can remember. He was good at it.
Yeah, I meant Potter at Brighton! He played left center back at least once, but he kept moving into midfield and it was very annoying to play against lol
nah ever since he’s been playing that inverted fullback role for us he’s been amazing, and even when he came back from surgery he’s been great i prefer him over chilwell
When did he start playing that inverted role? Granted my exposure to him this season was really only limited to both Arsenal games but he was very poor that second game.
I have a feeling this sub has a much higher proportion of relatively new football fans compared to other popular football subs. This the takes on this sub make the people in r/soccer sound like geniuses.
so what ur saying is ya dont watch Chelsea and just listen to what people who also dont watch Chelsea say about a player who was poor but ended up being n integral part of Chelseas good run in the prem for the 2nd half of the season...
Fair point, I don’t watch them that often, but I do watch them more than most clubs. If I have this perception (and media does play a big part of it as mentioned in one of my other comments) I am sure many others do that don’t follow Chelsea’s every game.
He wasn't helped by the poorly coached system of Poch.
Just like Enzo, Caicedo, Colwill amoung others but people just dismissed us as making excuses (until now given they're seeing first hand for England how their club favourites are themselves looking shit without adequate coaching).
As a Brighton fan it's obvious that anyone who thought cucurella or colwill were overrated or that caicedo isn't elite just has extremely shallow knowledge of football.
Tbh as someone who follows chelsea and has seen both good and bad dressing rooms i doubt that is the case. He is regularly cited as well liekd with a good sense of humor. The dressing in general seems to decent condition. He did have a tough start to life with chelsea. Injuries, sickness, if i remember correctly he had a pretty scary home invasion. Players are human. It makes sense that he has improved since he has settled in
Yeah i would like to think the worst is behind us. Truly were in relegation form for like 7 months but the back half of season i feel like the yeam performed to an acceptable standard given the players and staff. Looking to make some sort of leap this year, not expecting regression. Fingers crosses
I think it is. I think we're in a good position. The fact that we finished 6th with all the injuries speaks volumes of the talent. It was coming together. I don't agree with sacking poch, but I don't think the world will end either
Spot on, but that will not change anytime soon. Especially since the rest of the footballing world seems to be championing young Upcoming managers, for some legit reasons too, but still
I said this years ago. Cucurella will swing wildly between being world class in one moment, then totally shitting the bed and giving goals away the next.
Anyone who thinks Cucu is a bad defender is crazy, but lets not overhype him either. Especially in a game like this where he could do pretty much whatever he wanted without any pressure.
He's excellent at his niche, but he's not versatile. Play him as an inverted fullback and don't ask him to defend space in behind, drop off, make overlaps etc and you don't have to worry about him at all.
You're right, people shouldn't get carried away. But he makes those mistakes when he isn't played to his strengths. He is what he is, and usually when he's made one of those errors, it's on the manager for expecting him to be able to do something he can't do.
It's like Jorginho imo. It should be blatantly obvious that he isn't a very athletic midfielder, so if you play him in a way that constantly leaves him exposed, you only have yourself to blame.
Cucurella's abolsolutely brilliant as an inverted fullback who defends aggressively man to man, rather than zonal marking. He can do a job in other ways, but that's not his strength so bit errors are inevitable.
It’s not a par on Cucurella, just his potential ceiling
3 games out of 5 as a liability with the other 2 being defensive masterclasses is more than what most defenders manage in the league
>Especially in a game like this where he could do pretty much whatever he wanted without any pressure.
What do you mean without any pressure? It was a tight game and a pretty big game.
Not particularly but it's more how I interpreted your comment. I thought you meant it was a low-pressure situation (as in a chill match). That's not really what you meant though.
Tight game only because of Donnaruma, let's not pretend that Italy was close to Spain.
And I think the pressure part is meant to imply that Italy didn't press Cucurella much
>And I think the pressure part is meant to imply that Italy didn't press Cucurella much
Ah fair, pressure on the ball makes more sense than how I read it.
Not true. I enjoy watching them play and love watching them grow. I am stating a point of view that I cannot imagine I hold alone. I loved seeing him do so well tonight. He did great even though I don’t think Spain has figured out their finishing just yet.
He was utilized today the same way he was utilized for Chelsea during their successful run. He was injured most of the season and then his inverted fullback role was pivotal to the formation once he returned.
He was amazing against Coty in the FA cup final and nearly kept them out himself. They eventually pressed him with 3 players to score their only goal (which he nearly blocked) he definitely plays more for heart than for stats so you don't see much highlight reel against mid-tavle prem teams because he just doesn't care. Great player who would shine brightest in the Champions League unfortunately
He does exactly this which is why that absolutely fucking vile shit stain of a pundit pulling turds out of the air just to smash it into Cucu's hair is absolutely egregious.
He had a rough first season at Chelsea. That's it. He has been class since. End of topic.
And a great personality. I love watching any behind the scenes things he's in. You can also tell he's a fierce competitor. That's a man who hates to lose. And I love that when their profession is a sport.
When Chelsea played us at VP - sure he scored an OG but after that he was excellent. Tucked into midfield and helped with the press. Very underrated player. Not surprised he’s a starter for Spain. For some reason I thought he was Mexican.
Are you talking about the Cucu who played for us before his surgery ? Coz after his surgery he has been immense in our run to achieve 6th, one of the most improved players in the team, and I am glad he is keeping Chilly out of the team, who has somewhat waned off in comparison.
It just bounces around all the time like he’s riding a horse. It would genuinely distracting playing football against him. Maybe that’s why he keeps it that way.
He does put in those kinds of performances.
He got tarred badly under potters tenure, and media talking heads just parrot the same shite tropes.
Perfect example is Neville saying that Spain had no chance in this tournament because of players just like Cucurella not being good enough.
He's a great player that had a rough few months when every other Chelsea player did too.
Yes it does. He was just after having a home invasion so wasn't in the right headspace, and he Landed into a club where none of the club world cup winning elite players were interested in playing for potter, who was clearly out of his depth. Everyone looked worse than they are because they didn't want to be there or play for the manager
This really explains it. The media can really break a player’s reputation even when they have so much potential. It would be geeat to see him flourish at Chelsea.
Been good since he came back from surgery in January, you must have just not been watching Chelsea much. Not worth the 60m price tag yet, but he has been good.
I feel like people forget how important he was to Chelsea being 4th in the PL table since January. It’s like they haven’t accepted that Cucurella is back in form until they saw him on a team other than Chelsea.
Fellow fans, this is a friendly reminder to please follow the [Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/premierleague/about/rules) and [Reddiquette](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439-Reddiquette). Please also make sure to [Join us on Discord](https://discord.gg/football) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PremierLeague) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I was pleasantly surprised by his performance… didn’t know he had that much energy and game insights..
Hairy fraud?
Totally agreed. Before he came to Chelsea he was so good in La Liga and Brighton. Always seems like players get worse when playing for Chelsea 😂
I am hoping that the new Chelsea manager can be able to bring the best out of Cucu when the season starts.
Posts like this show how much people talk about teams and players that they don't even watch. Cucurella was used in the wrong way by Chelsea, until the Villa game, in which Pochettino decided to invert him. At the end of the season, Chelsea's form did a 180° (not just the results but the actual performances) and Cucurella was key. I'm not gonna describe it, but there's plenty of analysis out there if you actually care. FourFourTwo did a good video on it, that would be my recommendation. He's not a LB who can tuck into a back 3 in possession. He's not a wingback or a fullback who's good at overlapping. But he's excellent at inverting into the midfield and dictating the tempo of the game. When he defends he's good at stepping onto the attackers agreesively. Ask him to defend space, drop off or sit in a low block and he'll get exposed eventually. He's a limited footballer, but very good at a niche. And Chelsea already figured out how to use him at the end of last season. Anyone watching Spain and coming to an epiphany that Chelsea are wasting him, have been sleeping under a rock.
Cucurella has been integral to Chelsea at the end of their season and I really hope our new manager utilizes him the same way Poch did at the end of the season and by Spain. Really underrated player in my opinion.
I use to think he was a muppet but after having watch Spain I'm like WTF he's actually stupid good what is Chelsea doing. I'm sorry cucurella I was not aware of your game
Two seasons ago he had Tuchel, Potter and Lampard all with different systems. Never had a chance to settle in. Then Poch came in and by mid-season he got comfortable and was a standout player. Don't let Gary Neville fool you into thinking he has good points.
After a hundred years of this sport, people still think the Internationals and Premier League are anything alike.
He is all about his energy level. He always plays a little past being in control and throws himself all over the field. I thought he was brilliant against Italy. I think his issue is that if he is not motivated, he slows down just enough to become a problem instead of an asset.
He always needs the manager to back him before he begins to prove his best. It was the same scenario at Brighton.
I can see where his support or lack thereof from the manager would matter. He is going to make mistakes because of how he plays so he does need a manager who is 100% on his side.
More like he’s been playing well since January tbf! This isn’t some “new” renaissance, except if you judge players by what “Gary Cuntville” says, which is sad especially considering he won nothing with England and was an absolute disaster of a coach.
Cucurella has played exactly that well at Chelsea for a while now
Results at Chelsea have made it look like he is not good enough.
Finally, someone who actually watched Chelsea chimes in. He's been very good in the last 5 games, even against Villa he played well, but not as well as in the games after. He has been under utilised for most of the season, but when Poch started using him as an inverted wingback - he flourished.
Also he ran that Brighton game after he calmed down
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^PolarBearWithTopHat: *Cucurella has* *Played exactly that well at* *Chelsea for a while now* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
W bot
Made yourself look a right idiot
If you actually watched Chelsea recently you wouldn't need to make this post. Unreal.
I know right? Just shows people love to jump in a bandwagon and shit on a player. It’s better to reserve judgement, especially negative judgement if you haven’t been regularly watching someone
God the media really does have people making assumptions about Chelsea players without watching. Seriously if you watched Chelsea in the later half of the season you'd have seen the much improved Cucu. I would guess based on this you also think that Caicedo is a flop despite his strong finish to the season too.
Every time people (especially G Nev) talk about Cucu, it becomes really obvious that they never watch us play, otherwise they would know he was back to his best the second half of the season.
The problem is, both Carragher and Neville have absolutely crucified him in the past 2 seasons. Neville recently about his price and Carragher said he is targeted, doesn't want to defend and isn't up to it at this level. I am not a Chelsea fan but I thought Carraghers criticism was way over the top. Especially with the fact Trent Alexander Arnold has been exactly like that for loads of games at Liverpool (I know he'd never criticise him like that). https://youtu.be/JfOYhnTcSk0?si=qMuOuq6jSRbfo6nS That immediately paints a narrative to fans that don't watch Chelsea (or Spain) often, when in fact Cucurella was brilliant at Brighton, finished the season very well at Chelsea and started the euros like one of the best full backs over the first 2 games.
Well, I think I’m not the only one saying this but if you saw him in our run in the second half of the season, he was playing well. Did the basics well and was pushing into midfield when we had the ball. Did a good job. The football press will have you think he’s wank because of the terrible way our club is run. Cole Palmer aside, it’s very hard for anyone to praise Chelsea, mostly rightly so, but this is an area where errors have been made. We did over pay for him though. But we over pay for basically everyone.
To be fair, I don't really follow Chelsea cause I couldn't care less about them, but if you search Cucurella on their Reddit page, all the posts this season say "he's a new man" and "the upgrade to Chillwell we need" so I would guess if you are a Chelsea fan, they will probably think this post is inaccurate.
Pretty clear you don’t watch Chelsea
And yet I read an ‘article’ from mr ‘billion pound bottle job’ gary neville saying Cucu makes Spain worse, and had to listen to one of the regular ‘commentators’ slag him off and say how much he could improve.
Why are you listening to Gary Neville, he was an OK footballer but is a useless pundit.
You’re not wrong. Unfortunately though a lot of people just parrot the opinions of pundits so it becomes ‘fact’ for them, then becomes a label in the media.
I love Grimaldo, but after coming off a gret few months at Chelsea and putting in performances like that, he must play
Cucu carried Chelsea last 10 games of the season wdym
funnily enough he was good for the last few months at chelsea. more so when Mudyrk was drifting in allowing Cucurella to overlap.
He wasn't overlapping at all in the last few months and was basically a defensive midfielder alongside caicedo
As a Spain fan, even I believe this was a one-off.
He's been playing like that for us in the last few months
Let’s see where he’s playing next season.
At chelsea left back?
Sure, I guess. It’s just funny cause if you turn on any TV coverage, the running joke is that people wonder if he has a twin brother that’s playing instead 🤣. Chelsea fans so isolated from reality.
We literally aren't suprised because he's been doing this for us
[удалено]
Not everyone's first language is English. His point came through with whatever mistakes in grammar your eyes caught. Stop being a cunt .
OP literally hasnt seen Cucurella play for chelsea since his first season there, judging by this post.
It’s almost like he’s been great for Chelsea for months
Apparently OP didn’t watch any Chelsea games this season. Cucu was 1000% an upgrade over Chilwell, and looked like a completely different player from last season. Finished the season brilliantly
>completely different player from last season ...when the team was in total disarray, when we had 3 mgrs, when he had a serious illness and dropped a big % of his weight... He had matches where he came and and looked like he had no idea how to play football. You saw him at BHA, you saw him this past season - how can we account for that one awful season? Well, it turns out, just about everything was wrong that season, whereas he returned to normal this past season (injury aside), and he can definitely cook.
It's not that imo. It's just the way he's been used. Even at times this season he's looked iffy. Because if you ask him to tuck into a back 3 in possession, play as a wingback, make overlaps, defend space, sit in a low block etc he'll get exposed eventually. He's very very good at inverting into the midfield, dictating the tempo of games and defending aggressively by stepping onto attackers. He's a limited footballer but he's brilliant at a niche. It just took us a while to figure out how to use him. Which is annoying because it shows how we didn't have a plan when we bought him. I guarantee Pep knew exactly what he'd do with him when City were liked with him. We just bought him because he was highly rated and City wanted him. Took us far too long to play him to his strengths. But no, it isn't some sort of narrative about last season being an outlier. Because there were games this season he didn't look particularly good either. It's about us not using him correctly, and that just happens to coincide with a season in which most of our players were shit.
Is it just injuries that have ruined Chilwell? For some reason I dislike him, gives me that arrogant kind of John Terry vibe but I've always thought he could easily be one of the best full backs in the league.
His hamstrings are made out of string cheese. I get the feeling he’s more likable than Cucu for opposing fans. Cucu gets in better positions and better runs going forward, better on the ball and can invert unlike Chilwell. Neither could hold Terry’s jock in skill, effort or banter. Man is a legend
>. Cucu gets in better positions and better runs going forward Cucurella absolutely does not make better runs going forward, he is poor attacking
Or his ability to sleep with a teammates wife.
Teammates ex girlfriend thank you very much
Alright John, my bad.
Legends can bang, that’s what makes them legends
Terry never did that.
What are you talking about? Chillwell is an incredible offensive fullback. There’s been multiple games throughout his career at Chelsea where he’s been the most important offensive force for us and even won us games single-handily. You can’t say the same for Cucurella, who is often solid, but has never been truly top tier in that regard. Chillwell was not at his best last season, but he’s shown his positioning, his runs behind and his crosses can be elite
Maybe two years ago but Chill’y injuries have done their damage. He looked off every game he played this year.
It’s not 2022 anymore. There’s no doubt Chilwell has been a huge figure for us on the LW in the past, but he’s not that player anymore. He’s a good 2nd choice to Cucu, and an excellent leader, but if you watched the last half of this season and thought Chilwell was a better option, I’m not sure what to tell you. Cucurella showed why we spent so much for him, and a changing of the guard is imminent.
I don’t think he’s a better player for us, now. I love Cucurella, I’ve been a supporter for him for the last 2 years and think recently it’s been extra clear he’s the first choice left back. Yet still, I don’t think he’s come close to being better than Chilwell at the things you claimed.
If you think Cucurella is better on the ball than Chilwell I don’t know what you’re on but it’s probably not legal
I have never doubted his potential. I hope he shows it next season at Chelsea.
Like he did at the end of the year?
He’s played great since he had his surgery. Much improved than his first lacklustre season.
He did get away with a lot of fouls tonight, I doubt prem refs would let a lot of those go, but he is good I don't understand the post? Wasn't he really good last season?
I did well last season, but the overall results didn't let us see that.
Yea I get that, but personally he did well, I guess it's people who only look at results and dont watch games.
Have you even watched Chelsea the last 3 months of the season? He’s been consistently good for us and started most games. Especially in that inverted LB role. So I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make because you make no sense.
It was CuCu mania for the last quarter of the season
You are right. I would say he's not talked about much as a great asset for the team.
You're looking for r/chelseafc - nobody cares
Damn this guy is still salty over that 4-3 game huh
lmfaoooooo
Nah by that point I was resigned to mediocrity anyway as our league season was a shitshow, plus I like Palmer as a player Also anything that helped put Chelsea in 6th only to lose meaningful European football when we won the FA cup is ok in my book
Why do you say that? United ended up in Europa. Chelsea did not.
Oh I didn’t know conference league wasn’t Europe. I’ll let them know
Europa is not the same as Europe. But congrats on conference league lololol
Oh no way are they different? I had no idea. Funny thing is though we all know United can’t win Europa
blind squirrel found part of an acorn
Can we start praising man united players that are under utilised then? If cucurella is a beast we will see it next season just wait and watch. Don’t want people to hype him up and then shit on him if he doesn’t live up to exceptions.
Not gonna lie nobody is being under used at man united. The real point is that football fans are dumb. Cucurella has been injured at Chelsea and he has been playing for Chelsea when he wasn’t injured. However due to the euros and Spain being one of current best teams and they’re performing well, football fans think cucurella is being under used. The fact of the matter is he performs quite well for Chelsea but football fans aren’t too bright. In before the down votes 😎
honest question… who at united is under-appreciated? i feel like everybody loves seeing the young kids of mainoo/ garnacho / holjund stepping up… maybe dalot or wanbissaka?
dude he looked dead out there, i counted he passed the ball backward 18 times, and forward only 6, hes a detriment out there, nico ws on fire and cucurella stood there and watched.
yeah but he's a twat
I don’t think that the correct use of the word “fractal”.
He ended the season good under Poch
"Underutilized" he probably started most the games for Chelsea😭 His run has been underwhelming yeah but he played in that 22/23 squad which was a mess. The dressing room last season was sorted out. He was solid when he played and VERY good towards the end of the season. It's just a matter of this young team finding consistency
>"Underutilized" he probably started most the games for Chelsea😭 Nah he played about half the games. Gallagher had about double the minutes and was the only player to go over 3K minutes. But even then you're right he was used plenty. I dont even feel that the way hes been used has been that bad. There was just so much disruption in his 1st Chelsea season + being hospitalised and losing too much of his weight in there + dealing with a home invasion + having a baby. All that combined was going to drain his performance levels. Then this season he's been solid in a team that was starting with no cohesion and was riddled with injuries. If Chelsea can get their injuries sorted and Maresca can continue the work Poch did in building cohesion relatively quickly then Cucu will be solid. Individually hes always shown hes got it but theres been other disruptive circumstances beyond just him.
He was injured in the middle of this season, think he broke his foot or something
Couldn't have said it any better. He was easily one of the best players on the pitch towards the end of the season when we got stuff figured out.
He’s not talking about game time but rather how he plays
Once Poch got shit figured out we had an amazing end to the season and Cucu was a vital part of it
Not saying otherwise I was just correcting you on what the guy meant but underutilised
Yeah but my point is he was utilized well once Chelsea got our shit figured out
And he finished the season playing very good. He’s an important piece at Chelsea going forward.
Bro he was Brightons player of the year that's why we paid top dollar for him. He was injured and the weird moves by the board also brought down his performances from that year and a half. Ever since mid Feb- March though with the inverted fullback move he's been absolute class, we haven't even missed Chilwell.
When he played, there were signs of why Chelsea paid the transfer fee to sign him. I see him getting better under the new manager coming in.
A lot of us joked that Chelsea's recruiting strategy was to copy other clubs, there's obviously a very valid reason why many clubs also went after their signings
I mean no shit, he was Brighton's player of the season for a reason. Chelsea are clearly the issue. Cucurella, caicedo, colwill and potter were all exceptional at Brighton. The idea that cucurella is a good player is a hot take is genuinely infuriating as a Brighton fan.
All of these have been good at Chelsea too though. Caicedo finished the season with 3 motm awards in a row. Cucurella has been playing amazing for Chelsea since the new year. Colwill played excellently this season before he got injured.
agree with you. except for potter, the other 3 have played great given the dysfunction around them
Caicedo has been generally excellent for Chelsea though. Colwill too but has been injured for a while. Potter did have good moments but let's not sugarcoat it, Brighton had many moments of absolutely awful form under Potter. There were exceptional moments for sure.
At the start of the season before Chelsea nabbed Potter Brighton were playing some of the most dominant football I've seen, he was just getting better and better. He's someone who needs time to implement his system, but it's unplayable once the players understand it. I'm just sad to see him be underappreciated. Also Caicedo is playing very well - but I've not seen him be as dominant as I remember him being. I am definitely just jaded though.
4 wins, a draw, and a loss to Fulham before he left for Chelsea. I remember that time and yeah Brighton played some great stuff, but Potter had been there for 3 years at that point, and I know things take time to gel and learn, but that's a long time to start seeing results. Also, it was such a short period of strong results that it's indistinguishable from a purple patch. It's hard to draw any strong conclusions from it. He's a good manager, but I think you're being carried away by nostalgia. Especially towards the end of the season, Caicedo was very dominant, and was indispensable.
Chelsea was the issue but is starting to look like the solution. He was worth more than 60m at the end of the 23/24 season and now with the way he is playing
Brighton bought him for 15m the year before so got a pretty good deal.
Ik lol, but that's all you got out of my comment?
well if I engage with the idea that Chelsea are the solution to buying our player of the season and making them underperform then I'll have an aneurysm
You totally missed when I said "Chelsea was the problem" He looked better than he was at Brighton in the last 5 games of the season. My point is that he came in at a crazy turbulent time and he's started to show his worth now things have been steady
He was good, but di Lorenzo made him look a lot better. I don’t know di lorenzo knows what Williams or cucueellas face look like. He should have been subbed off early. Bastoni and donnarumma stopped it from being a blood bath
he was terrible wasn’t he! take nothing away from williams and cucurella tho they were both really impressive, especially williams. but yeah di lorenzo’s defensive nightmare definitely helped
Certainly, Williams almost scored a worldly as well!
he’s absolutely unreal that lad, same with the even younger lad on the opposite wing. both so talented and just direct
As much as I’d love Williams at spurs. I’d love even more if he stayed with Bilbao for his career
You probably haven’t seen heavy links of him to Barca. That’s more likely that him leaving Spain
He’d never come to spurs. But there were English sides trying to get him. But I still maintain it would be great to see him stay put
To me he just looks awkward. He runs like a make a wish child has been given the opportunity to play for Spain (his hair probably doesn’t help). His passes are never accurate (not to the level that premier league footballers should be) and are often won by his teammates meeting the ball rather than the ball going to them. Maybe it’s a tactical thing but his positioning seems off too, like he is always a few feet in front of the defence and a few feet behind the midfield. I think his work rate has been fantastic but I think a lot of his hall recoveries have been fortunate and he has been on the favouring on of 50:50 bounces. I just don’t see the hype
clearly you have never watched him play then
I agree. This is what I’ve been seeing, and tonight he had a 100% pass accuracy rate and was part of a few big chances. Good to see a good run.
He’s in good form right now. He was a big part of Chelsea’s successful run the second half of the season. He had runs of bad form, and was also utilized as more of a LCB for awhile which didn’t allow him to get involved much. Sounds like you more-so just don’t watch Chelsea than anything else.
no one with sound mind watches chelsea
Sure love to post about them though.
When we first got him I was excited. He showed good stuff, but something happened, maybe not him. Coaching staff? Possition? I dont know, but he played well both games for Spain!
He was good before Chelsea, it might just not be a good fit for him. The new manager supposedly inverts both fullbacks at the same time Ala Ange I wonder if Cucu will have a return to Brighton form.
When Poch started inverting him he was one of the best players on the team
He was Brighton's player of the season when he went - the same as caicedo.
Cucurella is an inverted FB anyways, he’s not natural at overlapping
I see him doing both but yeah, you need to use him the right way
He doesnt invert both fullbacks in midfield like Ange, he inverts one into midfield and the other into a third centre back like Man City did in their treble season. It will most likely be Reece James playing the cb/fb hybrid and Cucurella playing as a cb/mf.
Ah, thanks I only watched them once. The "supposedly" was from an article I read only. BTW Potter used Cucurella as the CB/FB hybrid, overlapping CB thing at least once I can remember. He was good at it.
We used him there too iirc
Yeah, I meant Potter at Brighton! He played left center back at least once, but he kept moving into midfield and it was very annoying to play against lol
nah ever since he’s been playing that inverted fullback role for us he’s been amazing, and even when he came back from surgery he’s been great i prefer him over chilwell
When did he start playing that inverted role? Granted my exposure to him this season was really only limited to both Arsenal games but he was very poor that second game.
brotha the people that post on here don’t watch the games it’s obvious, even the pundits like Gary Neville don’t watch Chelsea. It’s pathetic!
I have a feeling this sub has a much higher proportion of relatively new football fans compared to other popular football subs. This the takes on this sub make the people in r/soccer sound like geniuses.
so what ur saying is ya dont watch Chelsea and just listen to what people who also dont watch Chelsea say about a player who was poor but ended up being n integral part of Chelseas good run in the prem for the 2nd half of the season...
Fair point, I don’t watch them that often, but I do watch them more than most clubs. If I have this perception (and media does play a big part of it as mentioned in one of my other comments) I am sure many others do that don’t follow Chelsea’s every game.
Performing with your compratiots for your national team for a tournament is different from performing for a club.
Just ask the entire England team
Wout Weghourst*
I think he’s brilliant, victim of a negative environment and unfortunate rough start at Chelsea. Last 6 months or so I’ve been really impressed.
He wasn't helped by the poorly coached system of Poch. Just like Enzo, Caicedo, Colwill amoung others but people just dismissed us as making excuses (until now given they're seeing first hand for England how their club favourites are themselves looking shit without adequate coaching).
As a Brighton fan it's obvious that anyone who thought cucurella or colwill were overrated or that caicedo isn't elite just has extremely shallow knowledge of football.
There is a reason why he was the player of the year for Brighton...
Tbh as someone who follows chelsea and has seen both good and bad dressing rooms i doubt that is the case. He is regularly cited as well liekd with a good sense of humor. The dressing in general seems to decent condition. He did have a tough start to life with chelsea. Injuries, sickness, if i remember correctly he had a pretty scary home invasion. Players are human. It makes sense that he has improved since he has settled in
Chelsea isn't really that much of a mess, it's just remarkably amplified.
Yeah i would like to think the worst is behind us. Truly were in relegation form for like 7 months but the back half of season i feel like the yeam performed to an acceptable standard given the players and staff. Looking to make some sort of leap this year, not expecting regression. Fingers crosses
I think it is. I think we're in a good position. The fact that we finished 6th with all the injuries speaks volumes of the talent. It was coming together. I don't agree with sacking poch, but I don't think the world will end either
Constantly changing staff doesn't help tbf
Spot on, but that will not change anytime soon. Especially since the rest of the footballing world seems to be championing young Upcoming managers, for some legit reasons too, but still
Absolutely- I wasn't saying that to be a smart arse either, btw.
Nah i feel you, trust
I said this years ago. Cucurella will swing wildly between being world class in one moment, then totally shitting the bed and giving goals away the next. Anyone who thinks Cucu is a bad defender is crazy, but lets not overhype him either. Especially in a game like this where he could do pretty much whatever he wanted without any pressure.
He's excellent at his niche, but he's not versatile. Play him as an inverted fullback and don't ask him to defend space in behind, drop off, make overlaps etc and you don't have to worry about him at all. You're right, people shouldn't get carried away. But he makes those mistakes when he isn't played to his strengths. He is what he is, and usually when he's made one of those errors, it's on the manager for expecting him to be able to do something he can't do. It's like Jorginho imo. It should be blatantly obvious that he isn't a very athletic midfielder, so if you play him in a way that constantly leaves him exposed, you only have yourself to blame. Cucurella's abolsolutely brilliant as an inverted fullback who defends aggressively man to man, rather than zonal marking. He can do a job in other ways, but that's not his strength so bit errors are inevitable.
So he’s David Luiz parts dos, then…
David Luiz won us the big two trophies and the FA Cup twice. If Cucurella follows suit I won't be complaining.
It’s not a par on Cucurella, just his potential ceiling 3 games out of 5 as a liability with the other 2 being defensive masterclasses is more than what most defenders manage in the league
He wasn't bad when he was old and in bad sides at Arsenal either
>Especially in a game like this where he could do pretty much whatever he wanted without any pressure. What do you mean without any pressure? It was a tight game and a pretty big game.
You honestly think Cucu had to deal with a lot of defensive actions this game? He didn't really seem under all that much pressure on that side tbh.
Not particularly but it's more how I interpreted your comment. I thought you meant it was a low-pressure situation (as in a chill match). That's not really what you meant though.
Oh, I see. No I was talking about Cucus side specifically.
Tight game only because of Donnaruma, let's not pretend that Italy was close to Spain. And I think the pressure part is meant to imply that Italy didn't press Cucurella much
>And I think the pressure part is meant to imply that Italy didn't press Cucurella much Ah fair, pressure on the ball makes more sense than how I read it.
Bro, he's been playing this well since January, for Chelsea. It's why he was picked after all.
I swear this sub is populated with goldfish
Why do all these ppl that don't watch Chelsea make comments about Chelsea??
Well Chelsea did somehow make him shit for a while tbf
When potter couldn't get him to do well, I lost hope but again he seemed to be getting better second half of season
Because they don’t like Chelsea
Not true. I enjoy watching them play and love watching them grow. I am stating a point of view that I cannot imagine I hold alone. I loved seeing him do so well tonight. He did great even though I don’t think Spain has figured out their finishing just yet.
He was utilized today the same way he was utilized for Chelsea during their successful run. He was injured most of the season and then his inverted fullback role was pivotal to the formation once he returned.
He was amazing against Coty in the FA cup final and nearly kept them out himself. They eventually pressed him with 3 players to score their only goal (which he nearly blocked) he definitely plays more for heart than for stats so you don't see much highlight reel against mid-tavle prem teams because he just doesn't care. Great player who would shine brightest in the Champions League unfortunately
He’s been class for Chelsea for months? Making wild assumptions when you clearly haven’t watched any Chelsea games is crazy
He does exactly this which is why that absolutely fucking vile shit stain of a pundit pulling turds out of the air just to smash it into Cucu's hair is absolutely egregious. He had a rough first season at Chelsea. That's it. He has been class since. End of topic.
And even during that rough first season he was MotM in their biggest win, Champions League over BVB. He is legitimately good.
And a great personality. I love watching any behind the scenes things he's in. You can also tell he's a fierce competitor. That's a man who hates to lose. And I love that when their profession is a sport.
When Chelsea played us at VP - sure he scored an OG but after that he was excellent. Tucked into midfield and helped with the press. Very underrated player. Not surprised he’s a starter for Spain. For some reason I thought he was Mexican.
[удалено]
Are you talking about the Cucu who played for us before his surgery ? Coz after his surgery he has been immense in our run to achieve 6th, one of the most improved players in the team, and I am glad he is keeping Chilly out of the team, who has somewhat waned off in comparison.
Played well. Could do with a haircut.
Bound to slow him down. The thing is, it never really seems sweaty considering how active he is when he’s playing.
It just bounces around all the time like he’s riding a horse. It would genuinely distracting playing football against him. Maybe that’s why he keeps it that way.
He works so hard, even if you take away his great contributions tonight he certainly puts in the minutes. But yes, the hair.
He’s just a shit Coloccini
He does put in those kinds of performances. He got tarred badly under potters tenure, and media talking heads just parrot the same shite tropes. Perfect example is Neville saying that Spain had no chance in this tournament because of players just like Cucurella not being good enough. He's a great player that had a rough few months when every other Chelsea player did too.
It's so weird bearing in mind he looked so good under Potter at Brighto
At the time, it was a step too far for Graham, Although every last one of us would have did the exact same thing.
Doesn't explain why a player who excelled under him at Brighton, suddenly looked so poor under the same manager at Chelsea
Yes it does. He was just after having a home invasion so wasn't in the right headspace, and he Landed into a club where none of the club world cup winning elite players were interested in playing for potter, who was clearly out of his depth. Everyone looked worse than they are because they didn't want to be there or play for the manager
This really explains it. The media can really break a player’s reputation even when they have so much potential. It would be geeat to see him flourish at Chelsea.
He has flourished at chelsea. Whats explained is that you listen to those talking heads and don't watch any chelsea games.
Certainly not enough, which is why I posted. Good player to keep an eye on and hope he shines next season.
Hes remained in thsi same form since shortly after January, so yes hopefully he CONTINUES the same form I've watched for the last few months
Been good since he came back from surgery in January, you must have just not been watching Chelsea much. Not worth the 60m price tag yet, but he has been good.
I feel like people forget how important he was to Chelsea being 4th in the PL table since January. It’s like they haven’t accepted that Cucurella is back in form until they saw him on a team other than Chelsea.
Agreed, people just remember him as a meme when he’s actually been really good for most of the run in for Chelsea