Marc Cucurella reveals ‘difficult’ Chelsea dressing room and pleads with Todd Boehly to give boss Enzo Maresca time
MARC CUCURELLA has pleaded with the Chelsea hierarchy to be patient with new manager Enzo Maresca.
Having been signed by Thomas Tuchel and seen Graham Potter, Frank Lampard and Mauricio Pochettino come and go in the Stamford Bridge hotseat — Cucurella has called for patience and stability to make things work.
The Spain left-back — who helped his nation to their Euros triumph in the summer — insisted Chelsea’s squad is packed with talent but they need “calm” to allow the coaching staff and players to succeed.
Maresca is the fifth Blues manager under the ownership of Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly, who took over in May 2022 promising a new long-term strategy after years of hire-and-fire under Roman Abramovich.
Cucurella, 26, said: “I’m happy, the coach we have is very good, he has very clear ideas.
“We come from years of changing coaches, let’s see if we can gain stability without many changes and that the coach can transmit his ideas.
“We need stability, we have high-level players, and I hope we can have the patience that is needed, that calm, so that everything goes well.
“We have the level, we just need stability and letting the coaches and players work to do something important.”
The former Brighton defender also admitted it has been “difficult” to create a positive atmosphere in the Blues’ changing room due to the amount of chopping and changing.
A total of 11 new players were signed over the summer with some big departures in Conor Gallagher, Raheem Sterling and Trevoh Chalobah.
BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS
Italian Maresca still has to deal with a bloated squad, with some players still training separately from a first-team group of around 28 — including FOUR goalkeepers.
Speaking while on international duty, Cucurella added: “It is true that it is difficult, here everything is much easier to generate a good atmosphere.
“At Chelsea I try, but it is a time of change in which many players leave and others come. I try to give my best.
“One of the keys to success in the Euros was the good group we had.
“In these tournaments you’re together all day, we have to put up with each other and if we hadn’t got along, it would’ve been complicated. I try there, it comes naturally to me to create a good environment.”
Chelsea are a circus - it will be TERRIBLE for football if they win anything, says Troy Deeney
CHELSEA are a circus — aren’t they?, writes Troy Deeney.
But the bigger concern should be if somehow, some way, Todd Boehly’s insane master-plan brings about success this season.
Finish in the top four. Win a trophy like the FA Cup.
He will then turn around and say: “See, it works” and all of a sudden, other clubs will begin considering copying this mad model to try and compete in the Premier League.
Before you know it, there will be a bigger divide between the top clubs and the rest and this country’s top flight will become something we have been fighting against — a Super League.
The smaller sides and promoted teams will be wiped out by the elite and will end up saying, ‘What’s the point?’
Football as we know it will change, and there will be no going back.
As a neutral, you don’t want to wish failure on a club or a regime, but it’s depressing to think about.
We should almost be looking at it in amazement — the owners have come in with this model and they’ve treated it as if they are buying stocks and shares, not players or human beings.
Boehly has wiped away any sense of sentiment or old-school values from that club and the worrying thing is that he doesn’t seem to care.
Does he even like football?
Read Troy Deeney’s hard-hitting opinion on Boehly’s Chelsea shambles in full.
Or check out all of Troy’s columns on SunSport.