‘Torn to shreds’: Pat Nevin says 24-year-old Chelsea player had a horrid time during loss against Brighton

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Pat Nevin claimed that Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella had a really tough time against his former club Brighton on the weekend.

Chelsea suffered their first defeat during the Graham Potter era with a crushing 4-1 loss away to Brighton on Saturday afternoon.

The Blues were punished for a first-half performance that saw them trail 3-0 at half-time, with Gary Lineker suggesting Potter’s decision to play Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic was a poor one.

Leandro Trossard’s opener, along with own goals from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Trevoh Chalobah, put the home side in control at the Amex Stadium with a three-goal advantage.

There were signs of a revival from Potter’s side in the second-half as they tried to find a way back into the game. Kai Havertz’s header quickly after the restart threatened to spark a comeback.

However, the visitors ultimately ran out of ideas and Brighton grabbed a fourth through Pascal Gross in stoppage time.

Cucurella against Brighton

BBC pundit and former Chelsea player Nevin did single out Cucurella for criticism during his latest performance.

He explained the 24-year-old Spanish defender, who started as the left-sided centre-back in a back three, was “torn to shreds” by Brighton winger Solly March.

“Cucurella has had a difficult time over the last few weeks and this time he is getting absolutely torn to shreds by Solly March,” Nevin told BBC Radio 5 Live (3:40pm, 29 October).

Things aren’t getting any easier for Cucurella, who received a lot of stick on the day from Brighton’s home fans in the crowd.

He was Brighton’s player of the year last season with so many superb performances in the Premier League, but it’s taking him time to really settle into Chelsea colours with another shaky contribution on the weekend.

AS claimed recently that Cucurella has lost up to five kilograms whilst recovering from tonsillitis in October.

It sounds like it’s been a tough time off the pitch, but supporters are only going to judge him by his displays.

This Chelsea group need to quickly bounce back from an embarrassing result today.

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