Marc Cucurella has pulled apart the Chelsea board as he dissected the decision to axe Enzo Maresca mid-season and the club's policy on signing young players
12:54, 31 Mar 2026Updated 12:57, 31 Mar 2026
Marc Cucurella has called out the Chelsea board
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Marc Cucurella has called out the Chelsea board(Image: Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Marc Cucurella has called out the Chelsea board and claimed he would NOT have sacked Enzo Maresca.
Maresca, 46, left his role as the club's head coach on January 1 with the Blues sitting fifth in the Premier League. During his 18-month spell at Stamford Bridge, the Italian won the Conference League and Club World Cup, and guided them back into the Champions League following a three-year hiatus.
Liam Rosenior was soon confirmed as Maresca's replacement and he made an instant impact, winning six of his first eight matches across all competitions. But Chelsea's form has dipped since, with the Blues recording just three wins from their last 10 games and two of those came against Championship opposition in the FA Cup.
It's a run of form that has seen the club exit the Champions League and move down to sixth in the Premier League, three points behind Liverpool in fifth and six adrift of fourth-place Aston Villa.
"We knew what Maresca wanted from us," Cucurella told The Athletic. "Winning a title like the Club World Cup 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.
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"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 [Calum McFarlane] first, then a new manager, with new ideas and no time to work on them. It is what it is."