What Sky pundit noticed about Marc Cucurella straight after Chelsea conceded to Newcastle in Carabao Cup loss

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Chelsea exited the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night at the hands of Newcastle United, and they can reflect on a few crazy first-half minutes as the reason for their loss.

Chelsea suffered a 2-0 defeat away to Premier League rivals Newcastle in the Carabao Cup.

Alexander Isak opened the scoring at St James’ Park in the 23rd minute, capitalising on some sloppy passing at the back from the visitors. Then, Axel Disasi netted an own goal just three minutes later to double the Toon advantage.

Blues head coach Enzo Maresca did change his entire starting line-up for the cup tie from the side that beat Newcastle a few days earlier in the Premier League. Chelsea fans were calling for Cole Palmer to be substituted versus Newcastle, but he was rested and left on the bench yesterday.

• READ MORE: Newcastle United fans not impressed by ‘overrated’ Chelsea player after his display against them

Marc Cucurella instructed Chelsea teammates to go long after conceding vs Newcastle

Jamie Mackie, the Sky Sports pundit, was covering Chelsea’s trip to Newcastle in the League Cup.

Interestingly, he highlighted that Blues left-back Marc Cucurella was urging his teammates to stop playing short in defence and to go long for a spell after conceding the opening goal. Unfortunately, his side quickly found themselves two goals behind and that proved to be decisive.

Mackie told Sky Sports’ Soccer Special (8:15pm, 30 October): “Cucurella had been telling his teammates to go long for a period as they were getting into so much trouble. Chelsea were in control but they started playing it too short and they’ve been punished twice in quick succession.”

Cucurella, 26, sensed the danger and tried to help in a difficult period. But an extremely poor few minutes ended up costing Chelsea their place in the Carabao Cup.

Maresca’s style of play centres around his team building from the back, something we’ve already seen cost Chelsea on a number of occasions in the opening months of the campaign. We can’t imagine the Italian changing his method, though.

Certain Chelsea players fit Enzo Maresca’s system better than others

It’s becoming more obvious which individuals suit Chelsea under Maresca. The hint is that most of them are playing in the Premier League.

Romeo Lavia explains he’s very happy in the Chelsea system, with the deep-lying midfielder impressing in recent games on and off the ball.

Likewise, the Blues are much better playing out from defence when they’ve got first-choice central defenders Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana. Colwill claimed Maresca’s put faith in him to play out from the back, which really suits his game.

Colwill ranks inside the top 10 players in the Premier League this season for most passes, via the Premier League’s official website.

For Chelsea to be successful with Maresca’s philosophy, they need the right players on the pitch to implement it.