Chelsea star Marc Cucurella has criticised the club in a wide-ranging interview while on international duty.
Cucurella, 27, has become a key player for the Blues since joining from Brighton in 2022, and the left back has featured regularly in recent months amid a difficult spell for Liam Rosenior’s side.
Chelsea have won just four of their past 12 games and have lost their last four, while they were knocked out of the Champions League in the last-16 stage by PSG following an 8-2 aggregate defeat.
And Cucurella, who refused to rule out a summer exit at a press conference on Monday, was critical about how his team-mates handled that encounter.
In the first leg in Paris, Chelsea had played well and were drawing 2-2 until Vitinha’s 74th-minute strike put PSG 3-2 ahead, before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored two late goals to effectively kill the tie.
And, speaking to The Athletic about that game, Cucurella said: ‘We lacked experience. For a lot of players, it was the first time playing a match of that calibre, and we paid the price.
Marc Cucurella has criticised Chelsea in a wide-ranging interview while on international duty
The left back felt his team-mates didn’t handle their Champions League tie against PSG well
‘You can always make a mistake, but we should have handled it better. There was a return game to play, and if you keep a cool head, you go back to London with a 3-2 defeat and anything can happen. We made a mistake, tried to attack without a clear structure and then PSG took the chance and proved they have that cutting edge.’
The youthfulness of Chelsea’s squad that Cucurella referred to was another gripe of his as he suggested the PSG tie showed ‘we are still a bit away from the top level’.
‘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,’ he said. ‘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, you need more. Signing young players only might complicate achieving those goals. Against PSG, we lacked players that had gone through situations like that.’
Cucurella, who has played 41 times across competitions this season, also opened up on the impact of Enzo Maresca’s exit at the start of January.
The 27-year-old dubbed the Italian as the ‘most important’ manager across his time at the club, and said the relationships he built meant players would ‘die for him’.
Cucurella highlighted the stability that Maresca brought and cited the faith Arsenal have had in Mikel Arteta as an example of the rewards that follow patience.
He added: ‘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…’
To his credit, Cucurella was full of praise for Rosenior, but admitted the mixed results under the former Strasbourg boss are a result of Chelsea’s lack of training time amid the hectic schedule.
The left back opened up on the ‘big impact’ Enzo Maresca’s exit in January had on the squad
Cucurella also said Chelsea’s youth policy under the owners has made him ‘feel discouraged’
Cucurella’s revealing comments come after he refused to rule out a summer exit from Stamford Bridge at a press conference on Monday.
He is currently on international duty with Spain, and La Roja take on Egypt at Barcelona’s Camp Nou on Tuesday.
Cucurella was asked whether it would be hard to say no to the Catalan giants if they made an approach over a transfer.
‘If those situations arrive, they are difficult to reject,’ he replied. ‘I would have to consider it.
‘It’s not just me, I also have to think about my family. Between all of us, we would decide what is best for us.
‘Right now I’m not thinking about that. If it comes, it will come, and we’ll see what decision is made.’
The 27-year-old, however, added that he remains ‘very happy’ at Chelsea.
‘You always think about going back [to Spain]. I’m very happy there [at Chelsea], and so is my family. I’ll leave it for a few years from now.’
The defender is the latest Chelsea player to answer questions on their club future during the international break.
Although Moises Caicedo reiterated his commitment to the Blues, fellow midfielder Enzo Fernandez again appeared to cast doubt on his future.
Fernandez, who joined the Blues in a £108million move in 2023, first created speculation over his Stamford Bridge future after the team’s Champions League exit to PSG, insisting he does not know what will happen this summer.
The Argentine then criticised Chelsea’s board for sacking Maresca, claiming the Italian’s departure ‘hurt’ the squad in a thinly-veiled dig at new head coach Liam Rosenior.
On international duty with his country over the past week, Fernandez has once again hinted at a Chelsea exit.
In a livestream with Argentine channel SpiderCARP, he was asked which other city he would like to live in.
Fernandez replied: ‘Madrid… I like Madrid very much… it’s similar to Buenos Aires.’
