3. Marc Cucurella

[Magic Lamps 11,653]

Cucu looked really sharp and apparently did not feel the pressure of his price tag at all. Would have loved him to provide that assist to Sterling if not for that last ditch block. I hope he starts next week, Chilly clearly looked off the pace.

[Vytis33 1,144]

Had some crisp passing today.  Long may it continue...

[Nero 1,838]

You can already see why Guardiola wanted him. 

He is pure energy

[MoroccanBlue 5,297]

19 minutes ago, Nero said:

You can already see why Guardiola wanted him. 

He is pure energy

Plays like a Spaniard. Confident in his passing. 
 

Love Chilwell but he is well off pace compared to Cucu. 

[James 5,198]

[Special Juan 27,425]

Looked good when he came on, he's going to be superb for us.

[manpe 10,861]

He had a very good game especially considering he'd only been with the team for 1 day. Didn't put a foot wrong, crisp passing, got up and down and provided a nice cross for Sterling. As soon as he's up to speed he'll replace Chilwell, probably next game against sp*rs.

[Hamilton 2,120]

Very promising first game, looked very calm when under pressure 

[Last Sicarius 610]

With just 1 training with team he looks really good. Im so happy we dont need to push Chilwell to play and have good replacement for him as now(no Alonso is another plus)

[cosmicway 1,323]

Can Chil be switched to the right ? Or Mark to the left ?

[Last Sicarius 610]

 

14 minutes ago, cosmicway said:

Can Chil be switched to the right ? Or Mark to the left ?

Most likely in case with any health issues with Silva/K2 Cucu will play as LCB and Chilly as LWB.

[cosmicway 1,323]

8 minutes ago, Last Sicarius said:

 

Most likely in case with any health issues with Silva/K2 Cucu will play as LCB and Chilly as LWB.

But Cucu looks the part for LWB - judging from yesterday.

[Last Sicarius 610]

 

3 minutes ago, cosmicway said:

But Cucu looks the part for LWB - judging from yesterday.

Yes he can play on LB, LWB, LCB. Last season he spend ~20% play time as LCB in Brighton.

[Last Sicarius 610]

 

Good analysis. Nice point is that he is more creative than Chilwell. We need that to create more chances.

 

 

 

[chelsea_4_eva 1,157]

Looked great on his cameo debut, lets build on that performance.

[OneMoSalah 8,777]

One thing I really liked was the lack of touches he took when it came to passing. 

I know Chilly is only back from an injury but even before, sometimes, he can take 2 or 3 more touches than necessary. Or play a softer pass that slows down the build up. 

I don’t know how long he played but how many times did Cucurella get the ball out of his feet and fire a quick pass into a team mate? Even under pressure? This sort of thing will help our build up play and allow the guys in MF to get on it quicker.

RJ and Chilly both sometimes are very guilty of this, although they are both good enough not to need to do this.

Edited August 9, 2022 by OneMoSalah

[bluesman2610 1,341]

He also plays a lot of forward passes I noticed in his brief cameo. BC and RJ often play it backwards slowing down the build up allowing the defence to shift into full positions.

[MoroccanBlue 5,297]

Chilwell and James are also reluctant to pass through the middle at times. Hopefully this isn't something Cucurella is coached to do as well.