Jason Cundy would have been happy with Chelsea’s performance in the FA Cup last week.
Liam Rosenior’s side managed to beat Hull City 4-0 to set up a tie against Wrexham Town in the fifth round of the competition.
In 2023, Chelsea beat Wrexham 5-0 in a pre-season friendly, with Mauricio Pochettino in charge at the time.
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Reece James speaks with Marc Cucurella during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
Rosenior is now the man at the helm, and Cundy has been discussing some differences that he has noticed between his tenure so far and Enzo Maresca’s.
Liam Rosenior manager / head coach of Chelsea during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Hull City and Chelsea
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Jason Cundy explains how Liam Rosenior is using his full-backs slightly differently to Enzo Maresca
One of the things that stood out about Maresca’s Chelsea was the full-backs and how they inverted, with Marc Cucurella often being the one to fulfil that duty.
Under Rosenior, Cundy does not think that is happening as often, or at least not in the fashion supporters saw in the Maresca era.
Speaking on talkSPORT’s Inside Chelsea show, Cundy said: “The inverted full-back is less obvious for me, even though they do and can come inside. But it’s not what we saw with Cucurella [under Maresca] where he’s come in and literally been another striker, slightly toned-down version of that.”
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Cucurella did not feature in the win against Hull because of injury. The 27-year-old is expected to be out for around three to four weeks.
Jorrel Hato is one option to cover for Cucurella and did just that at the MKM Stadium.
Marc Cucurella and Reece James of Chelsea during the warm up
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Marc Cucurella’s change in role this season
Even before Maresca’s departure, Cucurella was already starting to invert less, and that is reflected in his stats.
For example, in the previous campaign, he scored seven goals in all competitions. As Cundy mentioned, Cucurella was practically a striker at times as the Spaniard took up central positions in the opposition’s box.
However, this term, he has only netted once. In contrast, Malo Gusto on the opposite flank has scored two goals after a season where the Frenchman failed to find the back of the net at all.
Under Maresca, he was the one really coming inside during the Italian’s final period as Chelsea manager. Going forward, though, it looks like Rosenior is going to be doing things a little bit differently in regard to his full-backs.
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