Frank Leboeuf admits he may have been too hard on £175k-a-week Chelsea player last season

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Chelsea players came in for a lot of criticism last season.

Some of it was justified, with Chelsea finishing sixth in the Premier League and failing to qualify even for the Europa League.

Mauricio Pochettino had a very talented squad at his disposal, which contained the likes of Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Marc Cucurella.

They make up three of Chelsea’s most expensive signings of all time. Even so, the team failed to reach their objective, which was qualify for the Champions League.

Chelsea legend Frank Leboeuf was one of their biggest critics during the 2023/24 campaign.

Frank Leboeuf’s U-turn

Understandably, as a former Chelsea player, Leboeuf was frustrated to see the Blues struggle so much during periods of last season.

He was critical of several members of their squad, including Cucurella.

“Crazy”, Leboeuf said after Cucurella missed a chance after one game.

However, the World Cup winner has now admitted that he may have been too hard on the left-back after his excellent Euro 2024 campaign.

Speaking on ESPN FC, he said: “Cucurella has been absolutely perfect, you know. I have maybe been very hard on him when he was playing for Chelsea.”

• READ MORE: Rio Ferdinand says why he thinks Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella played so well at Euro 2024

Was Frank Leboeuf too harsh on Marc Cucurella last season?

Cucurella finished the previous campaign quite strongly.

By the time it had concluded, the 25-year-old had become Mauricio Pochettino’s first-choice left-back, playing as an inverted full-back under his former manager.

Because of injuries and suspensions, Cucurella also had to play at right-back at times during the 2023/24 campaign.

Ultimately, then, perhaps Leboeuf was a bit too harsh on the Spaniard, who is on a £175,000-a-week contract (Spotrac) at Chelsea.

He has praised him for his performances at the Euros, though, and rightly so.

Cucurella was one of the best players at the tournament as he went on to help Spain win the trophy. It was, of course, the former Brighton & Hove Albion man who set up Mikel Oyarzabal’s winner in the final against England.