Marc Cucurella would have welcomed Graham Potter’s arrival at Chelsea in 2022.
While Cucurella would have wanted to work with Thomas Tuchel, a Champions League-winning manager, a bit longer, the defender was able to thrive at Brighton & Hove Albion under Potter‘s guidance.
At Chelsea, though, things turned out differently. While Cucurella may be performing now, Potter was never able to get the best out of the 26-year-old.
Cucurella has now shared what their relationship was like at Stamford Bridge before Potter’s dismissal in April 2023.
Photo by Mark Leech/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Photo by Mark Leech/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Graham Potter kept calling Marc Cucurella into his office
According to Cucurella, there was a lot of dialogue between him and Potter at Chelsea, with the former Blues boss often calling the left-back into his office.
With that rarely happening during their time at Brighton together, for Cucurella, it was a “bad sign”.
“For me, the more you talk to the coach, the worse it is,” the Spaniard explained in a recent interview with El Pais. “If you don’t talk and things are going well, it means that he asks me for certain things, and I do what he asks me to do. And that’s it. But if the coach calls you to talk a lot, it means that something is not working.
“For example, when I was at Brighton, with Graham Potter, I played everything, and we never spoke. Then he came to Chelsea, I didn’t play at all and all the time he called me to talk. That’s when I realised that the less you talk to the manager, the better. If he calls you into his office and starts saying things to you, it’s a bad sign.”
MORE CHELSEA STORIES
While Cucurella was unable to shine under Potter at Stamford Bridge, it has been a completely different story under Enzo Maresca.
Maresca has transformed Cucurella and come to truly appreciate his intelligence on the pitch.
When Maresca spoke about Cucurella after Chelsea’s 1-0 win against Leicester City earlier this month, he said: “Marc has something that is difficult to find. He is clever and is intelligent.”
Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images
Graham Potter did not defend Marc Cucurella from Chelsea supporters
Interestingly, when Cucurella was coming in for heavy criticism earlier in his Chelsea career, Potter did not really back his player. Instead, the current West Ham United boss said supporters were free to voice their opinions.
Speaking in one press conference, which was relayed by Chelsea’s official website, Potter said: “The results that we’re having, where we are in the table, unfortunately somebody would be getting the brunt of the criticism,’ Potter observed in response.
“That’s the pattern and whether it’s fair or not, it doesn’t matter. Supporters are entitled to voice their opinion because without them, there’s no football club. As professionals we have to accept that and then work as hard as we can to change opinion.
“That’s the challenge for us. I’m not going to argue against it. Marc’s a big boy, he’s an adult, he knows the situation. We have to help him to change the perspective.”
It has been some turnaround for Cucurella at Stamford Bridge, then, with the Spain international now being a fan favourite.
The goals that he has managed to score this season have helped, and hopefully he can grab one or two more before the season finishes.
It could go a long way, with the race for Champions League qualification being a very tight one.