At the start of the season, Marc Cucurella seemed set to leave Chelsea on loan and recent reports had again linked him with a move next January. At the beginning of this month, he had not even featured in the Premier League. But the Spanish left back continued to work hard behind the scenes and in Saturday's game against Arsenal, he was one of Chelsea’s best performers.
Defensively strong, intercepting balls in different areas of the pitch and even surging forward to press Arsenal's back line, he spurred on his team – and automatically the home crowd – with his energetic displays.
At the end of the recent transfer window, Cucurella was reportedly close to a loan-move to Manchester United, while other clubs were also mentioned as possible destinations for the former Barcelona graduate. But a move didn't materialise and on the evidence of Saturday's match, Chelsea can be pleased about that.
After the game, manager Mauricio Pochettino spoke about his plans for Cucurella this season and said: “I think it's a natural process. It is so clear when we arrived here three months ago that some players were in a position where they maybe stay or maybe go.
“I didn't know the past, I can only choose the players that we believe can perform. Marc and the club decided to stay in the last transfer window. And of course, he is training really well, that is why he is playing like [he did] today, playing really well against a very good player like [Bukayo] Saka. That is him, he deserves the credit because in the last few months he has worked very hard and he was [also] able to play on the right side.”
Another player who stood out at the back was Thiago Silva, whose marking, intercepting and blocking of shots gave no impression at all that he is already 39 years old. Mykhailo Mudryk played well, too, with the forward getting an unexpected goal when his cross from the left curled over David Raya to make it 2-0 just after half time.
Pochettino was pleased with the Ukraine winger's performance, but insisted he can still improve and that he is not at his best level yet. Promising words for the Chelsea faithful about a player who has now scored two in his last three Chelsea games, while he was also on target for Ukraine earlier in the week.
When Mudryk came off after 66 minutes, he was given a standing ovation. From the bench he then saw how Arsenal got back into the game, when Declan Rice capitalised on a loose ball at the back from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
“In football this type of situation can happen,” Pochettino said. “We need to accept, today we are in an era of football where we want to play from the back. Of course, mistakes can happen in football.”
Pochettino indicated that his team could have been more clinical, perhaps better at defending a result, rather than always trying to find a footballing solution, but the Argentine admits that it is part of a learning process.
“All the winning teams always manage and drive the games where you want and read situations when you need to be calm, when to play, when to take risks. These things will arrive with time,” he said.
Overall, Pochettino was pleased with the performance of his team, even though it felt like two points dropped in the end. “Yes, because I feel until 77 minutes when we conceded the first goal, I think we were in control and didn't concede many chances against a team like Arsenal, [who] are an amazing team, they were fighting last season for the trophy and I think this season improved with some players also,” he said.
“I think we are in a good momentum,” he added. “We need to keep this momentum after the three victories before the international break. I think we need to keep going, we really believe that we can do something good in the future.”
For Chelsea, an upward trend is visible in the Premier League since early October when they beat Fulham away.
Coincidentally or not, Mudryk scored his first Chelsea goal in that match and Cucurella played his first minutes in the league this season. Since then, both have been a key part of the Blues' recent resurgence under Pochettino.
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