‘I would not have sacked Enzo Maresca’ – Marc Cucurella criticises Chelsea management, signings
· Yahoo Sports
Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella has been blunt and honest about his opinions on the handling of the club while on Spain duty. The 27-year-old made the comments shortly before admitting that he has thought about returning to La Liga in the coming years.
Cucurella admitted on Monday that he would struggle to turn down a return to Barcelona should the opportunity arise. His comments follow on from fellow Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez dropping hints that he would be keen to live in Madrid, fueling speculation that he is keen to complete a move to Real Madrid.
Visit chickenroadslot.lat for more information.
Cucurella: Chelsea signing policy lacks balance
Speaking in an interview with The Athletic, conducted before his press conference, Cucurella revealed that he was not convinced by Chelsea’s policy of spending big on developing talents without bringing in any experienced players.
“I understand this is part of the club’s policy, and that they want to take this direction – signing young players and looking to the future. But, for all of us who are still here and want to win big things, moments like this make you feel discouraged.”
“We have a good core of players. The foundations are there. But to fight for major trophies such as the Premier League or the Champions League, you need more. Signing young players only might complicate achieving those goals. Against PSG, we lacked players that had gone through situations like that. You need time as well, and I know the young players are the ones that will have the experience in the future. But you need to find the balance between both worlds.”
‘Chelsea should follow Arsenal example’
Continuing on to discuss the managerial situation at Stamford Bridge, Cucurella was positive about current manager Liam Rosenior, but explained that it was impossible for him to implement his methods at this stage of the season.
“Liam is a very good person and has been great at handling the group, the characters. He likes to stay close to us and his football ideas are good, but we don’t have the time to train them. We train on (playing in) competitive games, because we play every three days and that leaves you with no time to work on the training ground. In this context, it is normal that your plans sometimes don’t work out, and then we go through difficult moments.”
“With Enzo Maresca in charge, we were more stable, because we worked together for 18 months. If you look at our first pre-season with him, there were doubts. You need a process for every player to understand what we need to do. In our last months with Maresca, we played almost by heart. If we changed the system, we knew what we had to do. You need that time. Look at Arsenal now, who are fighting for every trophy. They’ve been with (Mikel) Arteta for almost seven years and they have not won much. But that trust in the project gives rewards.”
‘I wouldn’t have sacked Maresca’ – Cucurella
It has been rumoured that Fernandez was also disappointed in the decision to dismiss Maresca, and Cucurella directly opposed the decision made by the club to do so.
“The moment Maresca left, it had a big impact on us. These are decisions taken by the club. If you asked me, I would not have made this decision. To make a change like that, the best thing is to wait until the end of the season. You would give everyone, the players and the new manager, time to get ready, have a full pre-season…”
“The instability around the club comes from this, in a nutshell. We had a caretaker (former under-21s coach Calum McFarlane) first, then a new manager, with new ideas and no time to work on them. It is what it is.”
Chelsea are currently in the midst of a battle for Champions League football next season, lying behind Manchester United, Aston Villa and Liverpool. Given Fernandez and Cucurella’s comments, it would perhaps suggest that the more senior palyers at Chelsea are not convinced by the project in London – a concerning sign for the ownership group.