It’s been a very tough time for Marc Cucurella since joining Chelsea from Brighton, having his house burgled as well as struggling with form on the pitch – the two may well have gone hand in hand.
Supporters have been criticising his performances, which is natural, and many of them have as usual taken it to the extremes on some occasions.
But he was very good against Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday night and earned a man of the match award.
Of course, it’s just one game, and we need to see this form continue from Marc, and hopefully we will now. But he was a different kind of beast last night, and a lot of that has to go down to Graham Potter’s decision to keep him out of the spotlight for a bit and away from the scapegoating. This has proven to be a wise decision from Potter.
Many of us, myself included, have been quick to get frustrated that Mykhailo Mudryk is not being picked, or even getting minutes on the pitch right now, and I do feel those frustrations are warranted.
However, it seemingly now appears that Potter is pretty much doing the same with Mudryk as he has done with Cucurella, noticing how much he has struggled since his arrival. Mudryk has been poor, other than the Liverpool cameo, and I believe Potter has seen the frustrations and weight already on his shoulders, and has therefore taken him out of the limelight.
The only thing I would say on this is that although it’s probably a wise decision, I do also think that some minutes late in a game could go alongside this move as something that could also help his confidence. For example, Mudryk coming on over Christian Pulisic last night to be a menace on the counter attack with his pace, would have been a better choice.
However, I completely understand removing Mudryk from the spotlight in order to ease him in slowly and build his confidence and development. I get it, and hopefully this will also end up to be a top decision, just like the Cucurella decision is so far proving to be.
