Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella has said the club made the wrong decision in parting ways with Enzo Maresca in January, with the Spaniard blaming “the instability around the club” on the former manager’s departure.
Maresca left Chelsea at the beginning of the year after a breakdown in relations between himself and the club’s hierarchy, with Liam Rosenior appointed as his successor just a few days later.
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And while Rosenior got off to a positive start at Stamford Bridge, results have tailed off in recent weeks, culminating in losses to Newcastle and Everton as well as a record-equalling 8-2 aggregate defeat at the hands of PSG in the Champions League.
Those results leave Chelsea outside of the Champions League qualification places, with the Blues sitting sixth in the Premier League, one point behind fifth-placed Liverpool.
“The moment Maresca left, it had a big impact on us,” Cucurella said in an interview with The Athletic. “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.
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“The instability around the club comes from this, in a nutshell. We had a caretaker [former under-21s coach Calum McFarlane] first, then a new manager, with new ideas and no time to work on them. It is what it is.”
(Ben Whitley/PA Wire)
Cucurella has been at Chelsea since signing for over £60m in 2022, and the arrival of Rosenior marks the sixth permanent managerial appointment he has seen at the club in that time.
Nevertheless, the 27-year-old called Maresca “the most important” of these managers, explaining that “winning a title like the Club World Cup” helped to strengthen bonds and “create great relationships”.
“When a manager gives you that confidence and offers you a platform to fight for titles, you’d die for him,” he added.
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Cucurella was also quick to praise current boss Rosenior – explaining that he “has been great at handling the group” and “his football ideas are good” – but lamented the fact that Chelsea have “no time to work on the training ground”.
The Blues are currently in the middle of an international break, with club football resuming with the FA Cup quarter-final at home to Port Vale on 4 April. Rosenior’s side then continue their battle for European football at home to Manchester City in the Premier League on 12 April.
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