I quite like this. Attack attack attackattackattack
Cucurella at Chelsea
- Thread starter SilentWitness
- Start date
Yes please. One of those signings where everyone assumes that he'll be awful, but actually he's rather good.
If the option becomes obligate if he plays more than, say, 5 minutes then sure
Sorry dude but I've got receipts I'm collecting.
He’s absolutely shite.
How they paid £70m for him is hilarious.
Danny Drinkwater style shite.
How they paid £70m for him is hilarious.
Danny Drinkwater style shite.
Everyone struggled in that Chelsea team, he’s a great player.
What was the issue that caused him to look so trash at Chelsea? Just not a conventional left back? Brighton style adorned his strengths?
If he pushes for a move we might be able to get this done quickly
No, he's genuinely one of the worst players ever to start for us in the last 15 years. He's crap.
Chelsea are shite.
Yes please.
He can’t attack or defend. Looks shit scared on the pitch.
He was laughably bad though last season, he was the worst player on the pitch every time I watched Chelsea and it's not like he didn't have plenty of competition for that accolade.
I'm sure he was very good that year for you but there's tons of players who struggle hugely when taking that step up and he looks a prime example.
Sure, but it wasn’t just a case of a “good player playing poorly in a disjointed team”, he looked genuinely hideous. See @P-Ro’s post above.
Looked decent at Getafe and Brighton. Thought he would kick on at Chelsea but it hasn't worked out.
Not a terrible player, but he might at the very least give Shaw another kick up the hole to get his arse in gear.
Not a terrible player, but he might at the very least give Shaw another kick up the hole to get his arse in gear.
Oh shit!!
Would be shocked if Chelsea even entertained helping a rival team.
Him playing any substantial minutes for us would be a plus for them
You’re shite too so he should fit right in!
But they all did. Chelsea fans were giving out about Kovacic but Pep saw through that.
if he was a starting LB I’d say feck no but nothing wrong with him as cover. Especially on loan
Did you really pretend to be a United fan? Jesus.
He will be a starting LB though. For months.
The fact we're after an emergency left back suggests Shaw and Malacia are both going to be out for a while.
The biggest reasons behind his abysmal form since he came here are his defensive positioning and his decision making. Both have been utterly horrific. He gets caught out of position so many times and allows wingers to fly past him and free on goal. The mistakes he makes aren’t subtle or minor, they’ve been shockers that lead to calamitous goals conceded. He even did it a couple of times just a few weeks ago in preseason.
Also, the thing I was most excited for before we bought him was the rampaging runs up and down the wing he used to do for Brighton. He has shown none of that whatsoever here at Chelsea. He looks terrified to put in a cross or carry the ball in attacking areas.
Also, the thing I was most excited for before we bought him was the rampaging runs up and down the wing he used to do for Brighton. He has shown none of that whatsoever here at Chelsea. He looks terrified to put in a cross or carry the ball in attacking areas.
There are reactionary idiots supporting every club. I was kind of annoyed that he went for so little because he's a Rolls Royce of player (until he gets in front of goal). Even with his age he's worth at least what Mount went for with both of them having 1 year left on their contracts.
That … actually could happen. He was player of the season at Brighton playing LB more the way you use Shaw at Uniited wasn’t he.
I don’t think he’s a bad player. I think he has struggled to do the things WE asked him to. The interesting thing is we have never tried ask Chilwell to cover LCB, operate into the midfield, defend out wide when needed AND go forward … while then having to run back and cover LCB in transition. That was what Potter especially was asking of him, and it was too much; especially with no Gusto on the team, mistake prone Gallagher being the only holder in front of Silva with older legs…
We kinda set him up to fail. A reset needed.
Ok so is he amazing or is he trash?
If we get the Brighton version then hell yeah but surely some question marks….
If we get the Brighton version then hell yeah but surely some question marks….
He is great in the middle third of the pitch. No finishing and falls apart in the penalty area defending. For you lot, £55m!!
I hope you aren’t a salesman in your job
Dear god no.
Fine on a loan, very little risk. Definitely a hard 'no' on a permanent transfer though.
Chelsea wouldn’t be interested in a straight transfer right now. The entirety of his amortization would come due at once, you wouldn’t pay enough to cover what we still owed right now, and it just wouldn’t make a lot of sense.
He really needs to play regularly though, at a traditional LB, and for a very modest loan fee … what if he’s excellent? He isn’t on high wages I don’t think.
Then, if he plays well, maybe Thiago hangs it up next year and we have higher interest in Cucu competing for a more traditional LB role, or someone else wants him and the break even or plus point in his amortization then becomes closer to 35 - 40 … and it’s a different discussion.
Makes a lot of sense to me really
He really needs to play regularly though, at a traditional LB, and for a very modest loan fee … what if he’s excellent? He isn’t on high wages I don’t think.
Then, if he plays well, maybe Thiago hangs it up next year and we have higher interest in Cucu competing for a more traditional LB role, or someone else wants him and the break even or plus point in his amortization then becomes closer to 35 - 40 … and it’s a different discussion.
Makes a lot of sense to me really
Isn’t this guy the result of that incredible Brighton scouting system?
He’s a La Masia graduate … so not really.
Thats because he didn’t have that freedom Chilwell does. We had Jorgihno at the back as lone Cover for Thiago Silva . Chalobah was tasked with rotating toward RB from the back 3 the way Colwill does sometimes now on the left.
But then we would pair it with mistake prone Gallagher giving balls away and 2 to 3 players running at Jorg and Silva, and Cucurella would be tasked at covering that entire left side defensively. Do you help in the middle? Do you cover out wide? Can you make it back in time at all?
The guys we had playing forward certainly weren’t tracking back
It was a masterclass in tactical failure. And most of the time any choice he made would be the wrong one somehow.
There's obviously a good player in there but man, he's made some absolutely basic feck ups since we bought him.
I can't remember ever having less confidence in a Chelsea defender.
I can't remember ever having less confidence in a Chelsea defender.
I don't think he's anywhere near as bad as people are making him out to be based on last season. He joined us at a highly disfunctional time which must have made settling in a nightmare and to top it all off there's been plenty of media reports, without going into details, saying he had some 'turbulence' in his private life last season as well.
If he could just wipe his mind and start off with a clean slate I think he could end up being a decent player for us. Not one worth the money we paid for him but decent nonetheless. But with Poch taking a liking to Maatsen in pre-season Cucurella has become expendable so if a solid offer were to come in, I think we'd let him go because he's an expensive player to keep around as a backup.
If he could just wipe his mind and start off with a clean slate I think he could end up being a decent player for us. Not one worth the money we paid for him but decent nonetheless. But with Poch taking a liking to Maatsen in pre-season Cucurella has become expendable so if a solid offer were to come in, I think we'd let him go because he's an expensive player to keep around as a backup.
Maybe players are also shit. Cause and effect
This is how Chelsea managed to scam everyone, by convincing people their players are not shit, "just the system is".
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Not great, not terrible. I'd take him, if it's a cheap loan.
This is exactly it. Cucurella, lest people forget, didn’t often get to play LB. He was forced to play that weird LCB position. I’d e plain it again, but essentially it’s like he was asked to cover 5 areas when the most he could humanly cover was 3… and then we all blamed him when he wasn’t there for the other 2.
Chilwell has a massive injury history of his own. The only thing that would make us consider this is the fact Pochettino demanded to keep Maatsen; which for how we play, makes sense.
Maatsen wouldn’t fit Uniteds LB position well at all. But Cucurella actually would.
But it wouldn’t be a tiny loan fee and nothing else. He isnt on super high wages, and a lot of teams outside the PL would be interested if we just wanted to let him out on loan… without helping a direct rival.
United was possibly looking at Bertrand as a stopgap… and now the people on your shortlist are getting more expensive … meaning it’s probably necessary. Not a lot of options out there fit, in their prime, and have started multiple seasons at a high level in the PL and La Liga.
There are some reports Cucurella is on around £170K/wk wages which to me is extremely high for a backup LB.
His deal was done before any of the sporting structure was in place so Boehly got a bit trigger happy, just as he did with the contracts of Sterling, Koulibaly and Fofana too. Every contract we've done in January and this summer seems to be much more sensible as far as the salary is concerned.
Great to hear that we aren’t the only village idiots. And I assume he is on contract until the death heat of the universe.