Graham Potter really impressed with what Enzo Maresca has done with ‘amazing’ Chelsea player

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Enzo Maresca will head into the international break pleased with where his Chelsea side find themselves in the Premier League.

The Blues currently sit in third after navigating through a very tough run of fixtures that included facing Arsenal and Liverpool.

Yesterday saw them draw 1-1 with the Gunners, as Pedro Neto found the net for the first time in the league for his new club.

Maresca made a couple of big calls as far as team selection went, and this included club captain Reece James being left on the bench.

It appeared a natural left-back was wanted to deal with the threat of Bukayo Saka, seeing Marc Cucurella get the nod in the starting side.

Graham Potter impressed by how Enzo Maresca is using Marc Cucurella at Chelsea

It was a superb performance from the Spaniard. Enzo Fernandez and Neto both praised Cucurella for his display.

Graham Potter was also a fan of what he saw, in particular how Maresca has been able to play on his strengths when utilising him.

He said to Sky Sports: “He just came into the team at Brighton, he solved some problems for us in terms of balance on that left side, but his personality is infectious. He is a real good character around the team, he has got fantastic intensity.

“Not many players can go one-to-one with the likes of Saka and deal with him physically and Marc does that. I think he has progressed his game. The Euros was great for him.

“He is not the final third necessarily player, so how they have found a role for him at Chelsea has been really good. Left of a three sometimes in build-up, sometimes in central midfield.

“He is better suited to that than maybe attacking the backline. All-round person – he is amazing.”

Cucurella plays perfect game against Bukayo Saka

Cucurella has already missed a game this season due to suspension, and sits on the joint-most yellow cards alongside teammate Wesley Fofana.

However, that aggression is exactly what was needed when coming up against a winger such as Saka, and his performance was top draw.

Chelsea fans had been calling for Cucurella to return to the starting team during the time when he missed a few games, and he will surely now be back as a regular in the Premier League XI.