Mark Cucurella’s return to the Chelsea squad from injury could not have come at a better time, given injuries to team-mates Ben Chilwell and Levi Colville.
Blues manager Mauricio Pochettino is starting to look at the desperate lack of left-back options in his team,
but Mark Cucurella is once again ready to fill the hole in the starting XI.
We’ve seen Cucurella, 25, go through a really bad period in Chelsea colors since joining from Brighton in the summer of 2022.
However, we are confident that he can play a decisive role in the final months of the season.
Cucurella’s performance in the 3-2 win against Newcastle United on Monday night should give him confidence.
The 25-year-old defender had not played a single minute since November due to injury,
but was immediately called up to the squad against Newcastle and played the full 90 minutes. More importantly, he looked very solid as a left-back.
If Cucurella has any criticism, it’s that he can be too reckless in one-on-one defense and too eager to steal the ball from him.
However, we think the Spaniard could still become a key player for Chelsea if he can make a difference.
Above, I mentioned one red flag I saw in Cucurella’s performance: his over-eagerness to get the ball back.
There’s nothing better than making close contact with your opponent and intercepting the ball,
but smart defenders know that’s not always possible and maintain good position.
As for Cucurella, there were several times during his Chelsea career where he made
the same mistake of trying to steal the ball when he wasn’t around, much to the detriment of his team.
This happened a few days ago in the win against Newcastle.
He was easily tipped over by Jacob Murphy, who rushed to retrieve the ball in the middle of the park.
As a result, the Newcastle winger turned his back before scoring to make it 3-2, leading to an unnecessarily tense end to the game.
