Marc Cucurella interview: feeling loved at Chelsea and what manager Maresca demands every week

All of a sudden, Marc Cucurella has gone from enemy number one to one of Chelsea’s most important players, and you can see why. At the beginning of last season, you’d have been right to think there was no place for him in the Chelsea team. Signed from Brighton for big money, he just didn't hit the ground running as most Chelsea fans would have hoped.

So when Manchester United approached Chelsea for his services on loan to solve a left-back crisis that had seen Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia both injured, most would have been happy for the club to let him go. But it's to his credit that he didn’t jump at the first opportunity presented. He stayed, took the hits along the way, and fought his way back into form. Tottenham’s Sergio Reguilón was signed instead, and six months later the loan move was cancelled.

At Leicester this weekend, the Chelsea fans couldn’t get enough of Cucurella and made their affection known when they sang his name at full-time. So much so that even the normally straight-faced Cucurella dropped the mask and smiled. He said after: “I think what the fans did was very special, singing my song. I have worked hard to have these moments, and the fans believe in me. I’m very happy, and the whole team is very happy. In this club, we have come from a very tough time, but now I think we are on a good path. We need to keep going and not relax, because this league is very tough.”

Chelsea are indeed in a good place, but there has been one injury concern that continues to crop up and disrupt everything, that of captain Reece James. The club captain has suffered eight hamstring injuries in four years. Last season, he missed a chunk of the campaign and was forced into surgery to try and find a solution.

Cucurella, who knows what it feels like to be on the outside looking in, says the news of James’ latest injury left everyone in the squad feeling down. He told LondonWorld: “We are very sad, and I think for me personally, he’s one of the best players we have in the squad. Hopefully, he comes back soon. For sure, it’s tough because he’s fit again and then has a small injury, but we know him and we know he’s very important for us. He’s the captain, so all of us want him back as soon as possible.”

One of the improvements the team has had under Enzo Maresca is the way he has been able to generate healthy competition between players. The ability to get into their minds and have them fighting for their minutes is evident. When players come off the bench, you can see they want to make it count, you don’t get the feeling they’re upset with the manager for not starting them.

It takes a good manager to find that balance, something Cucurella agrees Maresca and his coaching staff have been able to do. He attributes it to their hard work, their willingness to open their minds to new things about the game, and their right energy.

He said of his manager: “He works really well and puts a lot of energy into it. He prepares the games very well, and I think he gives us ideas on how to play every weekend. We have things to do every weekend to surprise our rivals, I think. He and his staff are very good, and if we keep going this way, we have the talent. So we need to stay at this level.”

Whisper it, but Chelsea have gone from a club that would have been happy to take a Champions League spot this season to one that could be title contenders on this form. The way they dominated Leicester in that first half was truly remarkable.

In the first 30 minutes, they had 80% possession, with the only downside being that the Foxes were still in the game. Speaking about the growing confidence, Cucurella said they deserved to enjoy the weekend, given that they had just returned from international duty and some players had barely trained before the match.

He concluded: “Yeah, he (the manager) was a bit concerned about this game because he knows Leicester very well, and it’s a tough place to come. They have a good atmosphere, and right after international duty, some players had just a few training sessions together with the team. It’s normally tough, but today we showed our quality. We showed that we were a strong team with a lot of personality. We need to enjoy the work we’ve done today.”