Marc Cucurella has had quite the 12 months. He’s gone from a bit of a joke, and a player it was pretty clear that the club would be happy to get rid of, to a guaranteed starter and an important part of the new manager’s setup.
When he had surgery on a foot injury last December, it felt like the writing might be on the wall. He was going to miss months, then likely come back and sit on the bench. After almost loaning him to Manchester United a year ago, it then felt very possible he could leave in the summer.
Instead, it went the other way. Cucurella came back from injury and earned his place in the team as a starter. Mauricio Pochettino used him in a new way, and the left back showed the best form of his Chelsea career in the final games of the season. That earned him a place in Spain’s Euros squad, then forced his way into their starting XI and hasn’t looked back.
Cult hero begs for a calm season
Now on international duty with La Roja, the full back was asked by EFE for his thoughts on his new coach, Enzo Maresca:
“He’s very good. He has very clear ideas. We come from years of changing coaches, we’ll see if we can find stability without further changes and if the new manager can transmit his ideas. We need stability, we have really good players and I hope we can have the patience necessary so hat everything ends up ok. We have the quality, we just need the stability and for the coaches and players to be left to work to do something significant.”
It’s no surprise that Cucurella wants calm – we feel the same way after two crazy years. We could all benefit from a few quiet months now that the window is closed.