In the important victory of Chelsea against Liverpool recently, when the spotlight and the media’s attention seemed to focus primarily on names like Romeo Lavia, Moises Caicedo or Cole Palmer for various reasons, there was another factor that also played a key role but was rarely acclaimed. That is Marc Cucurella.
Perhaps the Spanish defender has rarely received a lot of compliments after each match simply because he maintained an incredible and stable performance throughout this season.
Under the guidance of coach Enzo Maresca, the importance of Marc Cucurella for Chelsea’s play is clearly shown through impressive statistics.
Not only successfully completed the defensive task, Cucurella also showed a significant contribution on the attacking front. According to FBREF, his “goal without penalty” is ranked in the top 11% of Europe, a testament to the ability to create a direct threat to the opponent’s goal.
In fact, there was a period from December to several weeks ago, Cucurella was almost the only Chelsea player who was able to find the opponent’s net, until the team started to regain his scoring performance. Besides, the number of British touches in the penalty area is also very respectable, in the top 21% in Europe.
The role of the Inverted Role that the Italian coach applies has helped Cucurella maximize the ability to distribute the ball and connect the routes. His influence on the overall play of the team was also expressed through the number of overall touches, an indicator he was also in the top 21%.
Although the defensive aspect is often the place where this Barcelona training product has been criticized in the past, but at the present time, Marc Cucurella is showing great progress.
His defense indicators such as the ball, blocking the ball, breaking the ball and the air for war reached 50% or more compared to other players in Europe.
Although this may not be the strongest point in his skill set, Cucurella certainly not to let the home team disappointed. His performance in the match against Liverpool was a typical example, when he excelled in dealing with a series of diverse attacking players that the opponent launched in to challenge himself.
This improvement has made a significant contribution from Enzo Maresca’s training, who not only helped Cucurella improve his personal defense skills but also build a tactical system that can protect and support him well. If Chelsea wants to achieve the goal in the top 5, Cucurella maintains the current form in the final matches that are decisive.
The strong revival of Marc Cucurella under Enzo Maresca has made him one of the most prominent players of Chelsea this season. This also attracts attention from major clubs in his home country of Spain.
However, Chelsea fans can be somewhat assured when TBR Football also confirms that Chelsea has absolutely no intention of selling Marc Cucurella in the transfer window this summer. The club and coach Enzo Maresca are said to be extremely satisfied with what this defender shows, considering him as one of the indispensable pillars.
The most obvious evidence for Cucurella’s peak performance is the performance in the match against Liverpool, where he completely disabled the star Mohamed Salah.
With 7 times of breaking the ball, cutting the ball 2 times, once the ball and the accurate pass rate of up to 89% (33/37 passes), Cucurella played a key role in the 3-1 victory of the Blues, a result that brought a big push for the hope of competing in the top 5.
Only Trevoh Chalobah is the one who performs more defensive actions than Cucurella in that match. From a seemingly at the edge of the team’s plan last summer, Marc Cucurella has now risen to become one of Chelsea’s silent but extremely important stars, an indispensable factor in Enzo Maresca’s tactical diagram.
