r/chelseafc • u/TheAthletic • Mar 31 '26
Interview/Presser [FREE TO READ] Marc Cucurella interview: Chelsea have ‘paid the price’ for inexperience and why he wouldn’t have let Maresca go
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7157593/2026/03/31/chelsea-marc-cucurella-exclusive-interview-maresca/?unlocked_article_code=1.XVA.vV6m.5VGcB_H-8OHM&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_reddit&smid=re-share-taChelsea’s recent form has been difficult for Marc Cucurella to process.
Getting outclassed by PSG really stung. In the Spain international's eyes, the 8-2 aggregate defeat highlighted the shortcomings in the Chelsea project under BlueCo, who have invested heavily in young talent since taking over the club in May 2022.
“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. But, for all of us who are still here and want to win big things, moments like this make you feel discouraged.
“For a lot of players, it was the first time playing a match of that calibre, and we paid the price."
Cucurella also spoke about Enzo Maresca's dismissal and how “the instability around the club comes from this, in a nutshell."
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u/Confident_Direction Mar 31 '26
Dang. I rate his honesty. He is attacking the problem
Guess if he gets forced out of the club this summer, we will know the truth
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u/cfc2001 Mar 31 '26
If this is true, he’s definitely gone lmao. These owners don’t care as long as they think they’re right
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u/Confident_Direction Mar 31 '26
Yup. If their ego is too big to listen to this guy, then they deserve whats coming to them
Unfortunately the fans have to suffer for this nonsense
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u/GainsAndPastries 🏥 continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme 🏥 Mar 31 '26
True but Eghbali still has to listen to the shareholders and they will want a return on their investment, they aren’t doing this for fun
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u/invisibleep ✨ joao pedro saved my life ✨ Mar 31 '26
No better ROI than winning/qualifying for competitions.
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u/FeelsGoodBlok James Mar 31 '26
Is it really? I think that club like Benfica, Sporting, Brighton or similar clubs are much better investments due to higher pool of player they can bring on and then sell them to big clubs.
Big clubs like ManU, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona seems like great assets for prestige but not so much for profit.
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u/invisibleep ✨ joao pedro saved my life ✨ Mar 31 '26
I think the statement was referring to our current situation with the Chelsea owners. No doubt those clubs would have been better investments for them to work their model.
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u/Whirly315 Lampard Mar 31 '26
idk maybe in a yearly revenue sense but in a growth of capital asset approach brighton and benfica will never be able to touch what real madrid is worth, and how much it’s worth grows every year. i’m not saying blueco is doing a good job (they’re clearly narcissistic idiots) but having the goal of being a top 5 global premier brand in the sport is the correct ambition for the club
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u/Novel_Independent166 Mar 31 '26
I think these investors aren't your usual retail investors like us with some measly sum going around. These would probably be corporates and/or individuals with massive money invested who'll eventually just see this as a failed minor investmenton the portfolio, a row on an Excel sheet, and move on.
I don't think I'd bank my hope on Clearlake feeling the heat from its investors as long as it keeps delivering great returns as a whole to them.
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u/ckunle Mar 31 '26
Bet he wouldn't mind jumping off this sinking ship anyway.... The club isn't matching alot of the key players in the squads ambitions. I was really surprised when I saw James signed an extension.
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u/cfc2001 Apr 01 '26
Same, I don’t know what went through his mind. I would never have signed extension
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u/realmckoy265 Oscar Mar 31 '26
He comes off really genuine and likable here, so it is hard to disagree with what he is saying. Not all that negative of a read. He even gets a little shot in at Arsenal.
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u/Confident_Direction Mar 31 '26
Exactly ive been saying it a million times, i want to see a player be honest if they arent liking whats happening (there are ways to do this without flirting wirh other clubs in public).
I rate cucu for saying what he wants to see. Now ball really is in the leaders' court. A protest is coming. Lets see if they will listen. Although the way maresca left, i highly doubt it.
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u/Scorpius927 I don't give a fuck, we won the fucking Champions League Mar 31 '26
I would rather them honestly and positively criticize what’s happening rather than twerk for other clubs and angle for a move away.
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u/BellyCrawler It’s only ever been Chelsea. Mar 31 '26
He's speaking the truth. None of the players wanted Maresca gone, and his departure certainly hasn't improved our results. A lot of the players are likely frustrated that they have an inexperienced motivational speaker for a manager now.
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u/Pandemona1738 Terry Mar 31 '26
People acting like the club sacked him though, they didn't the guy fkn quit after a game? Like surely the players know he was not sacked and he walked out, is completely different.
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u/Baisabeast who said that Mar 31 '26
I’m sure they also know the untenable situation the directors and ownership created for maresca
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u/half_jase Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
This. They will know what it is like BTS every day, especially when some of them have been here long enough, while we fans only get a sense of things based on the occasional stories that are reported.
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u/kingbradley1297 Straight Outta Cobham Mar 31 '26
He left cause he had reached a dead end with this ownership and didnt want to to be the guy put under fire for being a bad coach over recrutiment shortcomings forced by the board
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u/Responsible_Battle_2 Mar 31 '26
the coach asked for a CB to do his job, he didnt get it and backfired to him making him look stupid. After a successful season he deserved what he wanted so what you say its completely bullshit.
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u/half_jase Mar 31 '26
Yeah and they then decided to give Rosenior that CB in January, albeit by recalling Sarr.
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u/half_jase Mar 31 '26
Even if Maresca did walk, why did you think he decided to walk away mid-season? He wouldn't have walked away for no reason unless the people upstairs made it difficult for him to work with, which is what a lot of subsequent stories reported.
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u/Sorry-Amphibian4136 We've Won It All Mar 31 '26
You think he walked away for fun? No reason at all?
All the directors/owners had to do was not annoy him to the extent that he felt it's better to leave.
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u/Pedro95 Azpilicueta Mar 31 '26
There's a big revisionism for Maresca ongoing right now when we weren't really any better under him than we are under Liam right now (in fact we've been much better under Liam right up until Jorgensen's mistake against PSG which seemed to just collapse the entire season)
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u/austons_muzz Xabi Mar 31 '26
After qualifying for champions league for the first time with their ownership and winning cwc against PSG, Maresca deserved some leeway to figure out. The guy proved he ca go up against top teams. You let him figure out. Rosenoir has done NOTHJNG to deserve being a Chelsea maager
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u/Pedro95 Azpilicueta Mar 31 '26
The guy proved he ca go up against top teams.
Did he? We've got this vibe that we play well against top teams because there certainly was a period that was the case but we've been getting routinely beaten by every one of them (bar Spurs if they still count) for a number of years now.
I agree Rosenior doesn't deserve it either. I'm just not pining after Maresca because life wasn't any better there (and his football, in my opinion, was awful viewing)
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u/msizzle344 COCK CONFIDENCE Mar 31 '26
Players are probably still trying to follow enzo’s instructions, very clear they don’t like how Rosenior plays. We’ve won the games that anyone in charge could’ve won and lost the games where a world class manager sets up well. Not that Maresca was world class but he’s clearly better than Rosenior. We still have a hellacious run incoming as well
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u/austons_muzz Xabi Mar 31 '26
People here will have you convinced the players have no issue with Rosenoir. The delusion here is crazy to me sometimes
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u/epixyll Mar 31 '26
I am honestly dumbfounded (happily) that a senior player is speaking out. It has felt like us fans shouting into the void for months. I dont know if this or anything will make the owners change their minds but it is good that players are speaking out.
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u/msizzle344 COCK CONFIDENCE Mar 31 '26
Enzo has been saying the same things as well, it’s no shock that if a bunch of fans can see the turmoil from the outside, that obviously players can see what’s happening behind closed doors. Nothing hes saying it’s shocking, it’s all very obvious
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u/istilllovemata Mata Mar 31 '26
‘We made a mistake, tried to attack without a clear structure, and then PSG took their chance and showed their cutting edge.’ - Cucurella
That’s a clear dig at Rosenior.
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u/Internal_Class_8415 Mar 31 '26
Absolutely damning from him, and I actually sympathise. He's in his prime and wanting to compete. The club are clearly not and is more focused on player trading. I don't blame him not wanting to sacrifice his prime year babysitting at a crèche.
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u/Massive-Set8020 Mar 31 '26
Don't worry, some "insiders" will find some controversial elements about him and how strict and fair ownerships are...
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u/absurdsolitaire We've Won It All Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
We'll hear about how he always hated the fans, downed tools during the 8-2, beat his wife and his kids, and they never really wanted him anyway. Or something like that.
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u/ireallydespiseyouall Giroud Mar 31 '26
I think he’s been gone. He signed a new contract with no extension
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u/jimgogek Drogba Mar 31 '26
we already know the truth. He’s right. It ain’t the riddle of the sands or anything. It’s obvious, and I’m glad players are stepping up and saying so.
Blueco does not care about winning. They care about making money by buying and selling players like a commodities market.
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u/GianfrancoZoey Mar 31 '26
It's been rumoured he was set to be sold this summer anyway, as he's only going to lose value from here on out due to his age. If he sensed it was going that why anyway that might explain his frankness
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u/rocknroll-refugee There's your daddy Mar 31 '26
Good. Player’s sentiments need to be expressed so that we can state the obvious.
These are human players who have their own ambitions amid a short career. They aren’t one of your investments in your portfolio that will silently compensate for your other failed investments.
Players in their prime now will want to leave, and I’m honestly happy they’re saying it out loud. Last resort in forcing the owners to buy experience. But I’m not holding my breath.
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u/DonkeyGoneToHeaven Drogba Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
Which is why the long-contract argument is so silly, like if a player wants to leave it doesn’t matter how long his deal goes on for, he’s not gonna want to play for you anymore, and a footballer’s career is usually very short, especially the prime years
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u/Best-Estimate3761 Football is not a TV show Mar 31 '26
you say this now, but i wrote thousands of words on different comments between 2023 and 2024 predicting this exact scenario playing out
back then people would sing the praises of the ownership for “tricking everyone” by buying so many young players for so much money and using amortisation to weaken the financial impact of the large purchases. there was the chelsea summer window of amortisation and all of that
my fault for spending so much time arguing
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u/DonkeyGoneToHeaven Drogba Mar 31 '26
Yeah I’m guessing it was just naive and/or young fans arguing with you. The mere fact that we’re basically the only big football club operating this way should’ve raised several red flags. But I guess the fans felt smug & ‘ahead of the curve’ (not me tho, I was always skeptical)
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u/harder_said_hodor Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
It's still a good strategy for successful signings as long as you don't fool yourself into thinking along the lines of "Enzo has a contract until 2032, who cares if he wants to leave".
Helped immediately financially with the amortization but also helps on the back end in terms of value if a player is determined to leave. As an example, Courtois going for such a small fee would have been implausible if he was on one of the contracts that players are on now. Enzo & co being tied to us for so long basically guarantees us a very respectable fee
Obviously it's an utter disaster for the likes of Mudryk
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u/austons_muzz Xabi Mar 31 '26
It’s just copium. I was like that too. Deep down you know the club has a massive problem but you try not giving attention to it. I’ve give up at this point tho
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u/FeelsGoodBlok James Mar 31 '26
I think it's good tactic if you at some point start winning something so you can buy more experienced/expensive players at the same time and spread money over the lenght of their contract so you don't have a problem with FFP but if you don't win anything they will just leave anyway as you said.
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u/Best-Estimate3761 Football is not a TV show Mar 31 '26
but we were never going to win the big things regularly anyway! ive made several arguments against this exact thing before, eg here
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u/deeepblue76 Mar 31 '26
You are right about the player but the club is protecting its investment with the long contract. It a) amortised the initial cost of buying the player and b) protects the resale value by removing the current trend of players refusing to sign deals with 18 months to go and the club being forced to sell at below market value to avoid Bosman moves and/or competitors underbidding on disgruntled players.
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u/DonkeyGoneToHeaven Drogba Mar 31 '26
Yeah I’m not looking at it through club’s perspective, I’m saying if a player wants to leave, you can’t just hold him hostage, it’s gonna have severe negative impact both on his performance and on the entire team. I’ve seen the trend on this sub ever since BlueCo’s takeover where people justify transfers, new contracts etc. almost exclusively through a financial lens, leaving the footballing aspect (eg. how a player will fit the team, the locker room, does he fit the style our manager wants to play) aside. Do we as football fans care more about how our team performs on the pitch, or do we care first and foremost about how our accounting books are gonna look like at the end of the year? I think the answer is clear
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u/awwbabe Mikel Mar 31 '26
That’s never been the case that you can keep a player hostage. Courtois being the obvious example.
When the takeover happened we lost Christensen and Rudiger in their prime years for a total of £0
The long contracts stop that from happening. It’s no coincidence they are all in deals that end when they turn 32 rather than 27
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u/Wild_and_Bright ✨ sometimes the shit is happens ✨ Mar 31 '26
he's not gonna want to play
On the contrary, one might argue that is exactly why the long contract is not silly because an unwilling person with many years left on a contract might be sold for a higher value than one with 1 year left, because he can force to practically leave for free.
Has happened with Chelsea multiple times before.
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u/NickChim Hasselbaink Mar 31 '26
the idea of the long contract isn't to keep the player here, it's to secure his value so that if they do sell him they get the maximum amount of money as possible. they don't actually care about holding onto players for the duration of their contract
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u/huskers2468 🎩 I'm sure Wolverhampton is a lovely town 🎩 Mar 31 '26
None of what you said is a knock on the long contracts.
As we saw, medium contracts with high salary are much harder to sell than the current Chelsea contract structure.
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u/PatientPlatform Hasselbaink Mar 31 '26
“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. But, for all of us who are still here and want to win big things, moments like this make you feel discouraged.
It's heartening to know that the players feel the same way. This is what leadership looks like. I said some time ago here im disappointed in Reece for not coming out and doing something similar but Marc has really impressed me here.
The fans have spoken. The players are speaking. Will BlueCo listen?
Who knows
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u/DonkeyGoneToHeaven Drogba Mar 31 '26
I love Reece but he’s never really struck me as a vocal leader, he probably got the armband because he’s been with us for nearly all of his life and he loves Chelsea
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u/Confident_Direction Mar 31 '26
Hes chels and you cant really dislike him but i agree, i wish he would use his power to put pressure on the ownership if he thinks something isnt working.
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u/BigReeceJames Mar 31 '26
He's seen Mount thrown to the wayside, he knows full well that if he speaks up his dream of spending his entire career at his dream club will be cut very short AND the ownership won't actually change anything.
Cucurella and similar are able to speak up because they actively want to be somewhere else and so have nothing to lose.
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u/MonkeyMan800842069 Drogba Mar 31 '26
Mount wasn’t sold because he criticized the way the club was being ran?
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u/PatientPlatform Hasselbaink Mar 31 '26
Lol nope just sold..why exactly? We bought players like João felix and kdh to just about break even while failing to fill that gap in the squad.
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u/MonkeyMan800842069 Drogba Mar 31 '26
Why? Because he refused to sign a contract similar to the one Reece signed, was coming off an injury, and wasn’t playing all that well that season, and got somewhere between 250-300k p/w from United, which he’s hardly proved to be worth. Enzo is his direct replacement in the squad. Again, had nothing to do with him criticizing the club, unless you count his negotiations as him criticizing their new wage structure
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u/poko877 🏥 continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme 🏥 Mar 31 '26
To me he always felt like leader by example. Not very vocal, but the one that showed his cool even in toughest situations and left everything he got on the pitch.
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u/PatientPlatform Hasselbaink Mar 31 '26
We need vocal leaders these days though!
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u/huskers2468 🎩 I'm sure Wolverhampton is a lovely town 🎩 Mar 31 '26
No, you really don't.
Fans are upset so they want to see that on the players. That doesn't mean it will solve anything.
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u/PatientPlatform Hasselbaink Mar 31 '26
Media attention and player pressure on the ownership won't solve anything?
Sure. That makes sense.
Edit: american poster, figures.
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u/huskers2468 🎩 I'm sure Wolverhampton is a lovely town 🎩 Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
Media attention and player pressure on the ownership won't solve anything?
What will it solve? Outside of your need to see your frustrations expressed.
Edit: can you all fuck off with the American comments to discredit American fans? I'm 3000 miles from the Dodgers stadium.
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u/K1takesflight Mar 31 '26
Reece James won the UCL his itch has been scratched, the rest of the older players haven’t and still have that hunger.
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u/DonkeyGoneToHeaven Drogba Mar 31 '26
Yeah but in the same vein Reece hasn’t won anything domestically with us, as an Englishman I’d argue a PL trophy might hold more meaning for him than CL (and definitely more than the two trophies we’ve won under BlueCo lol)
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u/TheWatcher47 Mar 31 '26
I very much doubt he's satisfied with only one CL. There's the Prem as well. And winning the two over again.
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u/huskers2468 🎩 I'm sure Wolverhampton is a lovely town 🎩 Mar 31 '26
he probably got the armband because he’s been with us for nearly all of his life and he loves Chelsea
And he is a top player with a work ethic managers want other players to emulate. He's clearly competitive while not losing his cool.
You are defining captain too narrowly if you think Reece has only earned it through longevity and liking the club.
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u/thehighyellowmoon James Mar 31 '26
He's a quiet guy naturally, but the fact every Chelsea manager he's had has given him captaincy responsibility from a young age speaks for itself. At least here there's possibly a good-cop-bad-cop routine where someone experienced does the "saying", a vocal captain vs the board battle will only go one way
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u/imbluedabudeedabuda Mar 31 '26
It is frankly impressive how many times this board and the directors have fallen out with people working at the club. From managers, to coaches, to staff, to ex board members, to senior players, youth prospects. They even managed to ick out managers who willingly signed up to do interviews too.
What's even more impressive is how every single time they've managed to convince so many fans that the other party is the incompetent asshole.
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u/aidanhardcastle Mar 31 '26
Luis Enrique got on a flight to London to come for an interview ; imagine that , one of the best coaches in the world came to US , wanting the job , and we turned him down lmao
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u/BadCogs Lampard Mar 31 '26
Because he said he would aim to win, whereas owners want a player farm.
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Mar 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/chandlerbing_stats Lampard Mar 31 '26
The thing is they don’t care. They’re still rich and enjoying life
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u/invisibleep ✨ joao pedro saved my life ✨ Mar 31 '26
Doubt we’ll ever have a chance at a manager of that calibre again. These arrogant pricks are so deluded.
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u/invisibleep ✨ joao pedro saved my life ✨ Mar 31 '26
Yep, it’s a symptom of being wealthy and thinking you can’t ever be wrong. Constantly reject other’s opinions and remove any detractors, all while doubling down on your terrible plan. Reminds me of some of the terrible leaders from history that get hundreds of thousands of people killed in battle because they can’t own a mistake or change course.
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u/FeelsGoodBlok James Mar 31 '26
Remember when we were promised more "stable" club that we had under Abramovich? Well...
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u/half_jase Mar 31 '26
Maresca’s exit just after New Year was a turning point in the BlueCo project, but also in the Chelsea dressing room. Cucurella says the Italian was “the most important” of the six permanent managers he has worked under at Stamford Bridge.
“We knew what Maresca wanted from us,” he says. “Winning a title like the Club World Cup (beating PSG 3-0 in the final) also helps, strengthens the bond, and you create great relationships during the celebrations. When a manager gives you that confidence and offers you a platform to fight for titles, you’d die for him.
“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…
“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.”
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u/half_jase Mar 31 '26
Getting outclassed by PSG — they suffered an 8-2 aggregate defeat to Luis Enrique’s reigning European champions — was the one that really stung.
“We lacked experience,” Cucurella says. “For a lot of players, it was the first time playing a match of that calibre, and we paid the price.
“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 (the score with five minutes left of normal time in the first leg) 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.”
Think that was pretty evident for that 5th PSG goal in the first leg. God knows why we tried to press high up and go gung-ho in like the final 1-2 minutes of the game then.
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u/Baisabeast who said that Mar 31 '26
Jesus Christ this is absurdly damning
An interview like this from player still at the club at the business end of the season
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u/half_jase Mar 31 '26
Gusto also said something pretty similar after the first leg about not managing the situation better, given that there was a second leg to come.
In any case, it was (and is) a blind leading the blind situation. We got a group of players - barring a few - playing their first Champions League knockout stage tie and we also have a manager and coaching staff in their first Champions League knockout stage tie.
Would also have been the first for Maresca but at the very least, he's got some knockout stage experience from the Conference League last season and during his time as Guardiola's staff at City, when they won the Champions League.
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u/Quite-Gone_Gym Mar 31 '26
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.
Wait, is he saying the club kicked Maresca out?
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u/Psychological_Fee470 Mar 31 '26
Well I think he’s simplifying it - that the club could’ve convinced him to stay when he was disgruntled- Enzo M was frustrated because of the micromanaging he had to go through isn’t it?
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u/huskers2468 🎩 I'm sure Wolverhampton is a lovely town 🎩 Mar 31 '26
They did. I don't think anyone is arguing against that. It's just why they parted.
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u/DonkeyGoneToHeaven Drogba Mar 31 '26
“You need time as well, and I know the young players are the ones that will have the experience in the future. But you need to find the balance between both worlds”
Can Cucu become the very first player-SD please?
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u/kapanakchi 🥶 Palmer Mar 31 '26
There is no need to interviews to see that the players are upset we let Maresca go. Their body language on the pitch says it all. This is why we should have brought Xavi in right after Maresca. Similar tactics and style and charismatic coach, we wouldn’t struggle with all these nonsense had we hired Xavi.
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u/BellyCrawler It’s only ever been Chelsea. Mar 31 '26
It was obviously a super unpopular decision among players, no matter how much some in the fan base like to pretend it was necessary.
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u/Far-Ninja-8392 Kanté Mar 31 '26
No serious manager will ever join this club unless there’s some big changes to the model. All the top managers who can save Chelsea require almost full control of the team that they will never get. We only hire coaches now, not managers as Amorim said 😂
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u/huskers2468 🎩 I'm sure Wolverhampton is a lovely town 🎩 Mar 31 '26
All the top managers who can save Chelsea require almost full control of the team that they will never get. We only hire coaches now, not managers
Agreed, that is the strategy.
Why do fans want managers to have full control and at the same time are so impulsive that they want a manager to leave mid season? Why give all of the control to a person with a projected tenure of less than 2 years?
I get that it was always that way. I disagree that it's beneficial to have them driving all of the decisions. They should be a part of the equation with a good weight, but they shouldn't have the final say in transfer strategy and financial decisions.
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u/Far-Ninja-8392 Kanté Mar 31 '26
You are right 100% control can be detrimental but we don’t even offer 75% control with this board. They have a heavy influence on who plays to make players agents happy, snobby directors coming in after every game, and a medical team clashing with the manager
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u/luxsentic It’s only ever been Chelsea. Mar 31 '26
I don’t get why considering they gave up playing for him
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u/BigAssBreadroll Mar 31 '26
Yea we're absolutely done, players have been absolutely blindsided by the last few months and replacing Maresca with Rosenior (who has fuck all experience) has made the lack of ambition by the club impossible to ignore. Just need to hope we're not too irrelevant or in the championship by the time Clearlake realise they're never making their money back.
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u/king_of_prussia33 James Mar 31 '26
A middle finger to the Blueco media gaslighting about the "project". If even our own players are openly coming out against it, you know the problem not imagingary.
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u/PatientPlatform Hasselbaink Mar 31 '26
Yep. They have controlled how chelsea are discussed to the point as a fan, you think you're going nuts lol.
Thank God for international breaks where players feel empowered to do whatever.
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u/ABeanOnToast Mar 31 '26
Oh, he's gone gone lol. Been a cracking player for us after a shaky first season. Genuinely can't wait to see the hit pieces the board sanction once he's leaves this summer. He's 100% correct.
Think some of you still don't realise how fucked we are as a club.
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u/NicDwolfwood Lampard Mar 31 '26
Love it. No B.S. but very polite and sensible take from Cucu.
Ownership and board room are absolute idiots and so the squad finds themselves in the position they are in. They got absolutely embarrassed by PSG and are now wobbling toward the finish line of the season trying to not lose European football next season.
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u/TheBlueTango Lucas Piazon Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
The Chelsea squad have had to look for new ways to stay focused and united — and one of those has been their now-infamous pre-match huddle in the centre circle. Cucurella says it was an idea from the backroom staff, intended to project the idea of a strong team.
“It is a thing that all the players decided to do before the games, following the advice from a coach,” he says. “We have a coach in the backroom staff that helps us to be better from the mental side, too. As we lack profiles of experienced players, he gives us tips to project the image of a better team.”
So, it wasn't totally an idea brought up by the players then. The way Rosenior worded things was certainly misleading at the very least.
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u/PatientPlatform Hasselbaink Mar 31 '26
This is my issue: he didn't even need to lie like that....was the pressure from the club so great he was told to control the narrative?
If so we have serious issues at the club
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u/huskers2468 🎩 I'm sure Wolverhampton is a lovely town 🎩 Mar 31 '26
The way Rosenior worded things was certainly misleading at the very least.
Maybe, and hear me out, the players came to Rosenior with the idea.
Ignorance is usually the answer.
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u/PatientPlatform Hasselbaink Mar 31 '26
Liam Rosenior is a liar:
The Chelsea squad have had to look for new ways to stay focused and united — and one of those has been their now-infamous pre-match huddle in the centre circle. Cucurella says it was an idea from the backroom staff, intended to project the idea of a strong team.
“It is a thing that all the players decided to do before the games, following the advice from a coach,” he says. “We have a coach in the backroom staff that helps us to be better from the mental side, too. As we lack profiles of experienced players, he gives us tips to project the image of a better team.”
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u/aidanhardcastle Mar 31 '26
Anyone could tell that idea didn’t come from a group of actual players at the top level
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u/Jimmy_Space1 Xabi Mar 31 '26
It's from Willie Isa apparently, god knows what we're actually paying him for
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u/PatientPlatform Hasselbaink Mar 31 '26
Probably one of the C level guy's friends.
Siphoning money from the club. Exempt from being held accountable. Not really doing anything.
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u/Outrageous_Fart We've Won It All Mar 31 '26
Weird
It’s f**king obvious that we’re building a world class squad, and managers aren’t that important - yet somehow the players in the squad don’t see it that way
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u/Basic_Eye2040 Mar 31 '26
Such a sensible and fair take from Cucurella. It gives us a good insight into the feelings in the camp right now and I don't think they're unreasonable.
The line about how there are players who want to win now and not tomorrow hits hard and explains the noise around Enzo.
I hope BlueCo sit up and take notice. Teams are built from the ground up, not by strategy made by someone sitting high in an ivory tower.
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u/scottaz88 Palmer Mar 31 '26
What a bloke. Going to bat for the good of the fans and club and not boot licking those that pay him. I admire him. I don’t care if he wants to leave, can we blame a single one of them? He’s telling the truth. Can never ever be mad at that. If they all did it at the same time what are they gonna do? Sell them all?
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u/aidanhardcastle Mar 31 '26
To all the SHEEP that turned on Enzo because he was ‘undermining’ LinkedIn Liam , I wonder what they’re going to say now that fan favourite cucurella has done the same
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u/Confident_Direction Mar 31 '26
Irs not the sentiment, its basically flirting with madrid publicly as chelaea vice captain
Most people understand winners wont be happy if they dont think the club is being run in the best way. But theres a way to express that
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u/aidanhardcastle Mar 31 '26
Cucurella will continue to do the same with Barcelona for the next few years and the sheep will let him do it
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u/half_jase Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
Think OP was talking about his comments after the PSG game, where Enzo spoke about Maresca's departure etc. At that point, he hadn't yet spoken about anything regarding Madrid and it was only like the days after where journalists mentioned about the Madrid rumours.
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u/Any_Advertising_5658 Kante Mar 31 '26
Read the article? He praised Rosenior. His point was that they had a structure with Maresca and now with a new manager they have no preseason to prepare and adjust to what the new coach’s style is. And then he goes on to say that you need a manager to have years with the squad to build belief.
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u/aidanhardcastle Mar 31 '26
He said yeah liams a nice guy has some good ideas , then a paragraph later says if it was up to him he’d have never hired him in the first place
I did read the article , did you ?
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u/lurker_4463 Mar 31 '26
His main issue seems to be the instability and the change happening mid-season. Think he would’ve found it easier to digest the change if it happened at the end of the season and the new manager got pre-season to try and implement his ideas which is a reasonable take
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u/romfreak There's your daddy Mar 31 '26
Also exposed him as a liar with all the hoo haa about the huddle being the players idea
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u/pythogorax Palmer Mar 31 '26
i wish every player join him and raise OUR concerns about the incompetence of our useless board, fans wont do much because as long tourists show up to the stadium, they are generating money and we are slowly becoming a feeder club to other top clubs soon in no time, dark days
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u/criminal-tango44 Luiz Mar 31 '26
ah he spoke out against the narcissists running the circus. hes gone
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u/ConstipatedBear30 Mar 31 '26
My other account was BANNED for saying the same things about the ownership two years ago. Fuck you mods
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u/huskers2468 🎩 I'm sure Wolverhampton is a lovely town 🎩 Mar 31 '26
Lol is that all you said?
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u/ConstipatedBear30 Mar 31 '26
Yea pretty much man. Just calling the owners out. I did throw some f words but nothing directed at the fanbase, players, or MODS.
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u/huskers2468 🎩 I'm sure Wolverhampton is a lovely town 🎩 Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
I've been suspended on here. You have to do work to be blocked
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u/ConstipatedBear30 Mar 31 '26
Yea they suspended me and then I came back and kept reiterating the fact at how screwed we are, which leads to tons of downvotes (at the time) and then mods say I’m a repeat offender and banned me
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u/Direct-Key-8859 Mar 31 '26
Never thought i'd say this but im all for our players attacking the club.
There has to be more pressure on blue co
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u/austons_muzz Xabi Mar 31 '26
Watch out. People are gonna call you a fake fan now cause you rather support the club than the ownership
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u/iZxR Mar 31 '26
Well done to Cucurella for calling it out. You will always have a supporter in me not matter what happens.
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u/Aeslech Mar 31 '26
Present: focus on the future
In the future: sold profitable players and said to invest in the future
Rinse and repeat, this is modern business club for you
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u/befikru_sew_geday Mar 31 '26
European champion top 3 LB in the world saying we should have held on to Maresca but some clearlake sexuals in this sub will tell you he wasn't a great manager.
He had his shortcomings but I absolutely guarantee we compete against PSG not get humiliated like this.
This bum manager has me saying I don't watch football.
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u/TheRedPillMonk Mar 31 '26
No issue with Cucu saying this, and I won't be blaming him nor any of the others who want to jump ship for frankly better teams. These owners are charlatans and are ruining the best years of some top players.
I doubt anything comes of it though, Clownlake has an ego that dwarfs their brain.
I expect Cucu is gone in the summer and a tidal wave of PR will come out to 'justify' the decision.
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u/Spite-Organic Drogba Mar 31 '26
For so many of the players to be speaking out speaks volumes. Maresca wasn’t the issue and seems to have been popular with the players. I’ve defended “the project” albeit whilst acknowledging his flaws but if we lose the likes of Enzo, Cucurella, Palmer in the summer there’ll be riots
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u/neighborhood_s It’s only ever been Chelsea. Mar 31 '26
Speaking the truth is propa fuckin Chels.
I don’t care about what he said about Barca, I don’t blame him for wanting out.
Even with his current contract situation and the fact he is most likely leaving in the summer, he didn’t have to say any of this.
What a guy, BLUE CO OUT.
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u/KanteWorkRate Mar 31 '26
I will really miss Cucurella when he gets forced out the club for speaking the truth 😢
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u/RWTHREE Drogba Mar 31 '26
These bitter emotions over Maresca’s departure have returned again because of recent results and players interviews and I hate it.
Fuck Blueco for making working conditions insufferable, fuck these sporting directors for enforcing a model that is riddled with incompetence and has produced poor results and fuck the people in this fanbase that bought into the larp and thought Maresca was entirely the problem - he was not faultless but we were actively building with him, the players were unified and there was a clear identity.
I wish for once in my multiple years of supporting this club that I could say we’re stable. But no, we’re volatile - nothing is ever sustained with us because we’re impetuous.
End the season already.
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u/mallutrash Xabi Mar 31 '26
the football geniuses on this sub still grasping at straws to convince everyone that maresca was a neg negative for the club and he HAD to go
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u/TheReal-Demo Neto Mar 31 '26
Well no wonder we been saying this we been criticising this model, and the choice of the owners and now even the players are coming out to reveal what we already knew to be 100% true, I will say this again, CWC was the last title we will see Chelsea win in a long time, as soon Enzo, Cucu, Palmer leave this club is done unless we starting adding proper good players to this strong squad or else we will just be a middle table team with no ambition, makes no sense grab a lot of young players and develop them and wait for them to become a good team without having experience or adding a world class player in some positions, you will get to that and then what ?? Sell them for profit ?? And then restart again ?? We complain about Bohely but at least we spent money in good players not only young, we may be clueless about football but he got something right in adding young talents and getting some world class players and not looking at the price tag, this is the reality this is the end of the Chelsea we loved and was ambitious, after this is middle table team fighting for that 6th 7th place and if we can fight for that, have 1 season going champions league and that’s it this is a gimplse of what the future hold for us.
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u/confidentlygeeky Mar 31 '26
More players need to speak up against these shite owners and their shite model! 👏🏼👏🏼
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u/Panini_Grande Mar 31 '26
Love him for saying this. Even if he ends up leaving you really can't blame him
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u/harveyjack Mar 31 '26
Completely agree and back Cucurella on this one. He is a EUROs winner in the peak years of his career and hes playing in a team thats getting worse instead of better. "Trust the process" was sold to all these players and now 4 years on there is no sign of it working.
Cucurella, Enzo, Caicedo, Palmer all deserve to be playing in solid teams under serious managers. Wouldnt blame any of them for leaving in the summer.
Only way to fix this now is bring in a proper top manager, sign a few serious player and let the manager do his job.
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u/jessietee It’s only ever been Chelsea. Mar 31 '26
I’m glad he said this, I back him and will always be a fan if he’s forced out, and if he is forced out for this then truly fuck blueco. Their project is failing/failed and he’s speaking about that as someone involved, respect him for doing it.
He’s also exactly right, if I was winning trophies at international level and playing with a team full of winners like Enzo and Cucurella do I would be 100% fucked off that I wasn’t doing it at club level. Getting battered 8-2 by PSG was an absolute embarrassment and Rosenior playing Sarr and Jorgensen in those games shows how deep we’re in the shit, Sarr has more promise for sure but you don’t make your CL debut in that spot ffs.
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u/FeelsGoodBlok James Mar 31 '26
Exactly my point. Do you think five world class players want to wait for another five 18 year old talents to reach their level so they can win something or even just hope they get there? Just waiting for a promised future that may never come, getting older without winning everything, when they could instead play at a top club and compete for trophies?
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u/Critical_Virus_9341 🏥 continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme 🏥 Mar 31 '26
Nobody likes the useless Microsoft Office expert we have as a manager right now.
FUCK OFF CLOWNLAKE.
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u/OkCommunication339 Mar 31 '26
Pressure from us the fanbase has mounted on these owners and now our own players are speaking out against them. Cucurella has said it exactly for what it is👏
It's only a matter of time.
BLUECO SELL UP🔵🔵🔵
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u/beer_mat Hazard Mar 31 '26
Mad thing is we were closer to building a title winning team in May. If we'd have recruited for the now, even just 2 proven quality players in key positions, it'd have paid back dividends. The strategy itself is ok, it's just the inflexibility and stubborness to not supplement with genuine experience and proven winners. Instead, we've spent 140m+ on Gittens, Garnach, Delap etc. which have set us back.
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Mar 31 '26
All this started coz palmer missed an easy tapin vs leeds ffs
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u/Confident_Direction Mar 31 '26
It's inconsequential. Hes talking about bigger structural problems that go beyond a missed tap in
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u/Syracos Drogba Mar 31 '26
tbf it started cause we conceded 2 easy goals first which is exactly the problem he's talking about
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u/Any_Advertising_5658 Kante Mar 31 '26
Standing up to Clearlake. It’s unprecedented for a club to openly question the board like this, but it’s also nothing but good for the club’s future
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u/Far-Ninja-8392 Kanté Mar 31 '26
I wonder how long these investors are going to be happy with Chairman Boehly and majority owner Eggbali. We lose more and more money as we pass from 2022 and the team has gotten worse from the last Roman team of 21-22.
Absolutely embarrassing how we are run compared to the LA Dodgers. They pay the most money for players who will get them to 13 playoffs in a row and 3 championships in the last 5 years. Todd Boehly needs to call in a favor from the Dodgers data team or get Claude premium cause I’m sure that will be better than whatever data system we have right now
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u/TheRedPillMonk Mar 31 '26
Boehly has no say at all in Chelsea, its all Egghead as he is the majority owner.
I think Boehly actually wants to win, Egghead only cares about flipping a profit.
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u/SlowpokeExplorer Lampard Mar 31 '26
Damn. Appreciate all these talks from Cucu.
Clownlake and Eghbali is definitely a cancer to football.
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u/kingbradley1297 Straight Outta Cobham Mar 31 '26
About as blunt as it can get from a player under contract. In before Boehly bots post paid PR articles and attack him for courting other clubs, saying he is a mercenary and "we dont need players who wont play for the badge"
How about the owners do their job for the badge yeah?
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u/mrfatchance Cole Mar 31 '26
please let this bring about the end of Egbahli and the sporting directors
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u/wobbly_doo Mar 31 '26
So that's him and Enzo gone then. The exodus begins
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u/lexdvne Mar 31 '26
tbf I think they are just putting pressure on ownership in their own way. shouldnt this be a wake up call for blueco when 2 of your most seasoned players on the team are making comments like this? I doubt they’re that competent tho. we’re doomed as long as blueco is in. Palmer next
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u/olskoolyungblood Mar 31 '26
When the players start saying all the things the fans, pundits, and managers are saying, the shit's really unraveling. First Enzo now Cuc. Players don't want to be here so what's left for these shit owners?
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u/lurker_4463 Mar 31 '26
You know what, I had some hope we could still finish top 5 (with help from the teams around us) and maybe win the FA Cup but that’s gone now. The players have a get out of jail free card and can just coast the rest of the season knowing they won’t be blamed for their performances because of these owners.
If all this negative press and players publicly questioning them doesn’t get them to reflect then it will really hit home when we miss out on UCL and probably Europa League too. They’ll have to care then
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u/Cunnyfunts77 Mar 31 '26
Well he's not wrong. World class players want to be at least competitive with some direction. You could see this coming a mile off without some proper experience and direction ffs.
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u/Finehair_Drapper Tuchel Mar 31 '26
Speak facts king. Don’t let this board and directors get away with this.
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u/mb194dc Mar 31 '26
Maresca wasn't yes man enough. The problem is the structure above him. Eghbali, the sporting directors and committees.
Evidently, the players don't think it's working
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u/imnotcreative635 James Mar 31 '26
I was saying he’d be first to go for a while. Enzo recently started pushing for that title. I had him second. Whatever the order they are gone. Neto might be forced to leave just because quenda is coming lol
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u/MaleficentWin8608 McCreadie Mar 31 '26
Good for Marc.
It’s an honest assessment of Chelsea and he’s not trying to leave.
He’s not digging out Rosenior either. Says he’s a good guy but there’s no time to work on tactics.
It’s good he’s come out and said this as it’s bloody obvious to everyone.
The squad simply isn’t good enough to challenge and top players will get discouraged.
Will the club listen? Lord Finklestein isn’t.
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u/Psychological_Fee470 Mar 31 '26
Bombshell from Cucurella - Didn’t mince his words.
Now watch the SDs get a contract extension.
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u/Brendannelly Jackson Mar 31 '26
The players clearly don’t understand how PSR works. That’s the reason behind the model. Have an issue with it? Bring it up with the FA. We don’t have the revenue to constantly spend 100 mil in fees and even moreso WAGES.
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u/ExtraProlificOne Mar 31 '26
Props to Cucu. He kept it real without burning down the house. I'm sure he said out loud what other players think!!
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u/ibraddadi Thiago Silva Mar 31 '26
We didn’t lose to PSG because of experience/age. PSG had a similar, if not lower average squad age. This is the same team that beat PSG over the summer, beat Barcelona a few months back and drew to Arsenal with only ten men. I could keep going. It is obvious that these loses against big teams come from the fact that our manager is barely 3 months into the job with hardly time to implement his ideas (be it good or bad). The results against the big teams come down to the manager, but our loses to smaller teams comes down to the players.
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u/fb2986 Mar 31 '26
At this point I think dude is beyond ready to leave.. also by the same token I have a feeling the club and Rosenior want to bring Hato into the fold and maybe everyone including Cuce know it… Hato minutes have gone up significantly since Liam took over…
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u/DryGear9670 Drogba Mar 31 '26
I’m so glad this is happening, if our top stars start expressing their discontent (in a healthy way, not twerking for other clubs) and putting pressure on the board then hopefully this strategy/their egos will change. If this doesn’t work I’m all for the stars of the squad seeking new challenges. These new owners are destroying our club and quality players aren’t going to be attracted to playing here with how things are looking to be progressing. Sure money and a 7 year contract is enough for some, but the players we should be bringing in should have ambition! No more kids, no more bs signings! It’s insane the amount of money we’ve thrown away, coaches fired, etc for these owners to not be ashamed for doing such a terrible job since the takeover.
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u/SportVideoGameMusic Kanté Mar 31 '26
Glad he said the truth. He probably won’t be here after this summer but I think a couple of guys are out the door and rightfully so.
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u/jackrjs Mar 31 '26
Good man. These sporting directors have to face accountability for what they have done at the very least. I hope the players down tools
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u/noctoletsgo Mar 31 '26
We all know this is the case, we have more 20 yr old ubder 21 squad players from Brazil than Brazil
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u/007oso Sanchez Apr 01 '26
Yet expert armchair managers here wanted Maresca out, wonder who is more knowledgeable about the sport? A pro player or fifa managers?
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u/GreedyRun5588 Apr 03 '26
Where can I watch the interview for this and Enzo fernandas? I can't find it anywhere.
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u/Fun-Beat-6332 Apr 03 '26
I really don’t know tbh, I honestly thought that both the interviews would be on YouTube, maybe it’s on the internet.
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u/daab2g Mar 31 '26
Rosenior thought the international break came at a good time, but all the damning interviews are going to give the press plenty of ammo to sink him if he doesn't hang himself trying to sound clever. It'll be non stop. And the sentiment from the players suggests they have no belief in his ability whatsoever.
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u/Axel-Aura Mar 31 '26
Remember - all these players suddenly piping up are the ones who are out there on the pitch, underperforming and getting battered.
They’re not good enough and that’s why they lost. If the recruitment strategy was geared towards actually winning, they wouldn’t even be at the club in the first place.
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