Jamie Carragher ripped into Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella for his performance in tonight’s defeat against Manchester City.
The Blues suffered yet another negative result in the Premier League by losing 1-0 at home to Man City, albeit there were at least a few bright sparks.
Graham Potter’s side now have just one win in eight league games following a narrow loss at Stamford Bridge.
Despite being on top in the first-half, Chelsea failed to find a way to goal. Also, they lost both Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic to injuries early into the contest.
Man City substitute Riyad Mahrez turned out to be the match-winner with his close-range finish from inside the box just past the hour mark.
Marc Cucurella against Manchester City
Sky Sports pundit Carragher didn’t hold back with his criticism of Cucurella’s performance in midweek.
He didn’t like what he saw defensively from the 24-year-old left-back, who he criticised for his role in Man City’s winner.
“Cucurella doesn’t want to defend. He dives in again. Mahrez has just got to keep running at him,” Carragher said on Sky Sports’ Main Event channel (9:20pm).
He added minutes later during commentary of the Mahrez goal: “I’ve just mentioned Cucurella defending; just watch him; he runs back in, then he stops.
“It’s a fantastic ball across from Jack Grealish but Cucurella stops… I certainly know Cucuella could’ve done more.”
For Cucurella, he’s still trying to get back to the kind of form he showed in Brighton colours last year.
There’s been signs the Spanish full-back is improving and getting better during his debut season as a Chelsea player, but there’s still a rashness and vulnerability about him defensively.
With Ben Chilwell sidelined through injury, Cucurella’s had a wide open goal to nail down the left-back position.
However, surely youngster Lewis Hall, who replaced Cucurella in the second-half, could now be eyeing a starting spot on the left of defence.
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