Chelsea star Marc Cucurella has admitted the club’s crowded dressing room is causing issues as he and others try to build a positive atmosphere.
The defender has been speaking to EFE after a busy summer in which he became a European champion with Spain and further established himself as a star for club and country.
He’s enjoyed a complete turnaround at Stamford Bridge, going from something of a joke figure and a point of ridicule because of his price tag to a key player under Mauricio Pochettino and now Enzo Maresca.
Like everyone else, he’s been watching with interest as Chelsea have continued to spend this summer and add to a squad that is already full of talent.
Current numbers have the group at around 42 players, a huge amount that the Blues will need to work to reduce in coming transfer windows. For now, they simply have to make it work, and Cucurella admits that is a difficult task.
“It is true that it is difficult, here (with Spain) everything is much easier to generate a good atmosphere,” he said.
“At Chelsea I try, but it is a time of change in which many players leave, and others come. I try to give my best. One of the keys to success in the Euro was the good group we had.
“In these tournaments you are together all day, we have to put up with each other and if we hadn’t gotten along, it would have been complicated. I try there, it comes naturally to me to create a good environment.”
Chelsea now find themselves under Enzo Maresca’s leadership, with him brought in during the summer after impressing at Leicester.
The Italian has already shown a strong approach to the big squad he’s inherited, making it clear several players are not wanted and ensuring they move on.
His team are yet to really find their rhythm on the pitch, though, with impressive results such as the 6-2 win over Wolves countered a defeat to Servette and a draw with Crystal Palace.
It will take time before the Italian has the side playing exactly how he wants and shapes the squad in the same way, and Cucurella is hoping that he is given it.
“I’m happy, I think the coach we have (Enzo Maresca) is very good, he has very clear ideas,” he said.
“We come from years of changing coaches, let’s see if we can gain stability without many changes and that the coach can transmit his ideas.
“We need stability, we have high-level players, and I hope we can have that patience that is needed, that calm, so that everything goes well. We have the level, we just need stability and letting the coaches and players work to do something important.”
