It was a sunny afternoon at Las Rozas, the headquarters of the Spanish Football Association, northwest of Madrid, last Friday before a friendly against Serbia.
The Spanish national team’s training has ended. Several Luis de la Fuente players, including Martin Zvimendi, Pedri and goalkeeper David Raya, are chatting and soaking up the sun on the pitch. Crystal Palace’s Elemy Pino and Osasuna’s national team debutant Victor Muñoz are also taking part in target practice.
The 2024 European Champions camp will be a happy place. That’s largely thanks to head coach de la Fuente’s obsession with building strong bonds between players and prioritizing chemistry in the dressing room, with Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella key to creating that harmony.
“Coming to the national team is a breath of fresh air for everyone,” Cucurella told The Athletic in an exclusive interview ahead of Villarreal’s 3-0 win over Serbia. “Sometimes I feel like the games we have to play aren’t the most important thing. I just want to spend time with these guys. We’ve built such a strong relationship that the week goes by before you know it.”
But for Cucurella, there is more of a need for a reset with Spain.
Chelsea’s recent form has been difficult for the 27-year-old to process, with Liam Rosenior’s side winning just four of their last 12 games and losing six. They have lost each of their last four games, including losing by three points in both games against Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16 of the Champions League.
“Even when you’re doing well, the international break can kill you a little bit of momentum,” Cucurella said. “But this will be a good result for us (Chelsea) at club level.”
It really hurt to be outclassed by PSG and lose 8-2 on aggregate to the reigning European champions, led by Luis Enrique.
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“We lacked experience,” Cucurella said. “For many of our players, it was their first time playing at this level of competition and we paid the price.
“You can always make a mistake, but we should have reacted better. We had a return game and if we were calm we would have lost 3-2 (the score with five minutes left in regular time in the first leg) and gone back to London, so anything could have happened. We made a mistake and tried to attack without a clear structure, but then PSG took their chances and proved that they have the cutting edge.”
Cucurella is a respected voice in the Chelsea dressing room. This is his fourth season since joining from Brighton & Hove Albion in May 2022, following their acquisition by Todd Boley and the Clearlake Capital consortium. This puts him in a privileged position to assess the status of the BlueCo project.
There is little optimism around the West London club at the moment. Enzo Fernandes’ doubts over Chelsea’s future after PSG’s defeat added to their desperation for Champions League elimination. Cucurella did not want to talk about his teammate’s situation, instead choosing to focus on what happened in that draw.
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“Such results are always unacceptable,” Cucurella said. “You fight and train every day, but at the last moment, when the match is important, you realize that you are still a little far away from the top level.
“I understand that this is part of the club’s policy and we want to take a direction in which we sign young players and look to the future. But moments like this are discouraging for all of us who are still here and want big wins.”
“We have a core of good players. The fundamentals are there. But if we want to fight for big trophies like the Premier League and the Champions League, we need more. If we only sign young players, it might be difficult to achieve that goal. Against PSG, we didn’t have any players who had experience in that situation.”
“We also need time. We know that the young players will gain experience in the future, but we need to find a balance between both worlds.”
“Maresca should not have left”
In addition to that, there was also a director’s drama this season. Enzo Maresca lost his job in less than six months from managing the Club World Cup final in July to being replaced by Rosseniol in January. Cucurella defends the former Strasbourg manager’s work so far.
“Liam was a really nice guy and was great with groups and characters,” he says. “He likes to be close to us and his football ideas are good, but we don’t have time to train them.
“We are training in competitive matches (matches), because we play matches every three days, so we don’t have time to practice on the training ground. In this context, it is normal that sometimes the plans do not work out, and then you end up experiencing difficult moments.”
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“With the arrival of Enzo Maresca, we have become more stable, because we have been working together for 18 months. If you look at the first pre-season with him (Chelsea won one, lost three of six warm-up games), there were doubts. There needs to be a process in which all the players understand what they need to do. In the last few months with Maresca, we were playing almost by rote. We knew what we had to do if we changed the system. We need that time.”
“Look at Arsenal, who are fighting for every trophy right now. They’ve been with[Mikel]Arteta for almost seven years and haven’t won much. But faith in this project is paying off.”
Maresca’s departure just after the New Year marked a turning point not only for the BlueCo project, but also for the Chelsea dressing room. Cucurella said the Italian was the “most important person” of the six permanent managers he has worked 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, you strengthen your bonds and you have a great relationship during the celebrations. If the manager gives you that confidence and gives you a platform to fight for titles, you will 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 had asked me, I would not have made this decision. To make such a change, the best way is to wait until the end of the season. It will give all the players and the new manager time to prepare and have a full pre-season…
“That’s where the instability around the club comes from in a nutshell. First we had an interim manager (former Under-21s coach Callum MacFarlane) and then we had a new manager who had new ideas but didn’t have time to work on them. That’s the way it is.”
Chelsea’s team had to find new ways to stay focused and cohesive, one of which was the now infamous pre-match huddle in the center circle. Cucurella said this was the idea of the backroom staff and was meant to project the idea of a strong team.
“It’s something that all the players decided to do before the game, following advice from their coaches,” he says. “We have a coach in our backroom staff who helps us improve mentally as well. We lack the profile of experienced players, so he gives us tips to help us paint a better picture of the team.”
Cucurella: Tierney ‘wanted his moment’
Speaking about referee Paul Tierney finding himself at the center of the pre-match huddle before a recent match against Newcastle United, Cucurella said: “I don’t want to talk about it. To me it was a lack of respect. He came and told us, ‘Look, this makes sense. He could have said, ‘I can’t do that because of this,’ but instead he came and stayed in the middle. I didn’t want to talk about it anymore, to be honest. I believed he wanted to have his moment.
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Cucurella’s frustration with Chelsea’s situation reflects a player who went from being a misfit at Stamford Bridge to playing a key role in the club’s long-term future, signing a contract extension until 2028 last summer.
A similar thing happened with the national team. Cucurella was included in the 2024 European Championship squad due to injury to the other left-back, with Valencia’s Jose Luis Gaya and Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde absent.
Within weeks, he went from being an emergency call-up to being one of de la Fuente’s starting XI and then one of the biggest names in their triumphant campaign in Germany. He is now the undisputed first choice for this summer’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
“It was so much fun to live through this process,” Cucurella says. “I’m excited to be on the all-team list. It’s not easy to be here. The talent we have is unreal. And to see someone come through this path, arrive as a prospect, and now become a trusted member of the team, makes me proud.”
When asked if Spain were favorites to win this year’s World Cup, he was brutally honest. Spain will face Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, and Cape Verde, who are making their debut in the tournament, in the group stage.
“Yes, I think so,” he replied. “We have earned the right to have people believe in us. We were a bit overlooked at the last Euros, but the team is now full of hope heading into the World Cup. De la Fuente told us to stay true to ourselves, to believe in our abilities and to keep working on the fundamentals that made us European champions.”
He sees England as one of his toughest rivals and has high praise for new head coach Thomas Tuchel, who is his first manager at Chelsea. “They’ve always had a great team, but this time Tuchel will give them a little bit more tactical structure. We’ve seen him do a great job with PSG and Chelsea, and England will continue to be a team to watch.”
“There are a lot of talented players at the World Cup. Who are the players I don’t like to play against? Cole Palmer (England forward and Chelsea teammate), Michael Oliseh, Ousmane Dembele (both from France). They are some of the toughest attackers I’ve ever played against. Same goes for Jeremy Frimpong (Liverpool’s Dutch full-back). He’s so fast!”
“Everyone really appreciates what it means to be part of the World Cup and I can’t wait to be part of the World Cup.”
This article was originally published in The Athletic.
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