Chelsea news: The Blues found themselves 1-0 down to Aston Villa after a comical defensive mistake involving Marc Cucurella and Kalidou Koulibaly.
Marc Cucurella has been slammed by Chelsea fans already this season. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Chelsea were made to pay for a dreadful defensive error in the first half against Aston Villa. Ollie Watkins was handed a golden opportunity to score after Marc Cucurella’s misjudged header played the England striker in on goal, with the red hot finisher making no mistake.
The goal came from nothing though with Cucurella trying to intercept a long ball ahead of the better positioned Kalidou Koulibaly. It wasn’t the first time that the experienced centre-back had been involved in Watkins being allowed one-on-one with Kepa Arrizabalaga in the first 45 either.
Earlier in the game he made the rash decision to press up on play, leaving a big gap between him and Reece James which Watkins willingly ran into, only for his shot to wayward on this occasion.
He made no such mistake on the second attempt though and left Blues fans frustrated with two of their big money summer transfers. It’s also not the first time this season that they have been at the forefront of the criticism with former defender Frank Leboeuf slamming Cucurella earlier in the year after he was booed off the pitch against West Ham.
“We don’t want to see Cucurella anymore,” he told ESPN. “With all due respect to a man that I don’t know, the player is not good enough for Chelsea. It’s as simple as that. It’s crazy that they signed him for £60m or £70m, but we can see that he doesn’t belong to this level.”
Lee Hendry didn’t hold back on him either. “First and foremost though you have to say it’s schoolboy defending,” the ex -Villa man said. “Cucurella, I don’t understand why he’s going into that area, whether Koulibaly’s given him a shout, but is was an absolute gift for Ollie Watkins.”
The Spaniard has had a tough start to life at Stamford Bridge and has come in for heavy scrutiny for his performances. Jamie Carragher has even said: “he doesn’t want to defend.” This lapse of concentration comes after a better run of games from the defender. The same could be said for Koulibaly too but he was widely picked out for being at fault for Ellis Simms’ late equaliser against Everton before the break.
He is another one that has struggled to adapt at his new team with Thomas Tuchel berating him after a red card earlier in the season against Leeds. “It is a bit of a reflection of frustration, and it cannot happen,” the former Chelsea head coach said.
“We cannot get frustrated in the Premier League. It is a pure joy to play games in an atmosphere like this. We should just do it and accept it. It is not okay, and it is not good.”
Potter has continued to defend the pair though, explaining Cucurella’s dip in form. “Marc had a lot to deal with in terms of how you settle into a team, how you settle into a club, into a new group,” Potter said. “I think it’s been challenging for him.’
“Family-wise – that has been difficult for him as well. So there’s many factors. Sometimes it’s simplistic. You just see the guy on the pitch and you have a verdict on him, but there’s all sorts of things going on in his life. Obviously I know Marc well. I know Mark at his best and he is a top player.”
Source: football.london
