In Focus: Cucurella struggling to make his Marc at Chelsea

Dan Fitch

LiveScore

Marc Cucurella is finding life tough at Chelsea

Marc Cucurella's troubled time at Chelsea suffered another major blow this week.

The Spaniard, 24, was heavily criticised for his role in a passage of play that saw Ben Chilwell sent off against Real Madrid on Wednesday night.

With the Blues losing 2-0 in the away leg of their Champions League quarter-final, their disastrous season looks set to end without a trophy and, quite probably, European qualification.

Ahead of a visit from Cucurella's former club Brighton on Saturday, we examine the defender's uncertain future in West London.

Madrid error

When Frank Lampard became caretaker manager of Chelsea, he selected Cucurella as the left-back in a 4-3-3 formation for his first game against Wolves.

Having lost that match 1-0, Lampard switched to 3-5-2 for the difficult away trip to Real Madrid and left the ex-Seagulls star on the bench.

But in the second half, with the Blues 1-0 down, Cucurella was brought on to replace Kalidou Koulibaly on the left side of the back three.

Within four minutes of his introduction, the versatile defender lost the run of home forward Rodrygo, resulting in the panicked Chilwell bringing the Brazilian down.

Chilwell was given his marching orders and soon after, Lampard's men conceded a second goal.

A turnaround at Stamford Bridge next Tuesday seems unlikely given their poor form.

Positional changes

Marc Cucurella's early spell at Chelsea has not gone to plan

Cucurella's brief time at Chelsea has been a massive disappointment.

The trouble started when the club elected to pay a huge transfer fee of £62million for him last summer.

Brighton had signed the Barcelona academy graduate for a mere £15m from Getafe just a season before. He had looked set for a move to Manchester City, only for the West Londoners to gazump their rivals with their bid.

Straight away, that put pressure on the Catalan to deliver — and his task has been made all the more difficult by a turbulent period on the touchline.

When Cucurella signed, Thomas Tuchel was manager. His former Brighton boss Graham Potter then replaced the German, before Bruno Saltor became interim coach until Lampard stepped in last week.

The four different bosses have used a variety of formations and styles. Defensively, the team have switched from a back four to a three on multiple occasions in an attempt to find some solidity.

Cucurella has sometimes found himself tasked with playing as a left-back in a four, which is a role that arguably does not suit his skill set.

Second chance

Marc Cucurella has played under four different managers at Chelsea this season

For a player already facing the challenge of making a high-pressure move to a big club, Cucurella's task has not been made any easier by the amount of different positions he has been used in.

Out of Chelsea's raft of new signings, he is far from being alone in failing to settle — but he has certainly lacked the continuity offered to some of his colleagues.

There is sure to be a massive clear out of from a bloated squad over the summer. Who departs will in large part be decided by the club's choice of manager.

Cucurella's chances of staying and getting a fresh start will be helped by the fact that his contract runs through to 2028, with Stamford Bridge chiefs facing a massive loss if they were to try to sell him right now.

The one-cap international will hope that whoever is appointed as the new manager will have a settled idea of how they want Chelsea to play, giving him chance to revive his Premier League career.