Since BlueCo completed its takeover in 2022, Stamford Bridge has changed off the field while results have lagged. The January exit of Enzo Maresca crystallised growing unrest among supporters and within the squad, with Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez publicly expressing disappointment and confusion over the decision.<\/p>\n
Marc Cucurella took that frustration further, questioning the timing and the club’s wider direction. \u201cThe moment Maresca left, it had a big impact on us,\u201d Cucurella said. \u201cThese are decisions taken by the club. If you asked me, I would not have made this decision. To make a change like that, the best thing is to wait until the end of the season. You would give everyone, the players and the new manager, time to get ready, have a full preseason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maresca\u2019s relationship with those above him had been strained since the summer, when he publicly requested a new centre back to replace the injured Levi Colwill and that request was refused. Reports say Maresca grew disenchanted with the sporting directors and decision-makers, accusing them of interfering in his role. The hierarchy opted for a change, and Liam Rosenior was appointed to replace Maresca at a crucial point while the team remained in the race for Champions League qualification.<\/p>\n
Cucurella also criticised Chelsea\u2019s transfer philosophy. He highlighted the shift away from senior, experienced signings after the 2022 window in which Todd Boehly played a prominent role in recruitment. That summer saw arrivals including Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Wesley Fofana, Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei and Cucurella himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand this is part of the club\u2019s policy, and that they want to take this direction\u2014signing young players and looking to the future,\u201d he stressed. \u201cBut, for all of us who are still here and want to win big things, moments like this make you feel discouraged.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a good core of players. The foundations are there. But to fight for major trophies such as the Premier League or the Champions League, you need more. Signing young players only might complicate achieving those goals. Against PSG , we lacked players that had gone through situations like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need time as well, and I know the young players are the ones that will have the experience in the future. But you need to find the balance between both worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n
The recruitment model overseen by co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, and Joe Shields, has prioritised young talent. There are a few clear positives from the recruitment since 2022, including Cole Palmer and Mois\u00e9s Caicedo. But several signings have drawn scrutiny and recent results, such as the Champions League loss to PSG following Club World Cup success, have intensified fan protests and anti-Eghbali chants at home games. The board renewed contracts for Winstanley, Stewart, Shields and Sam Jewell in August 2025, even as dissent grew louder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cucurella publicly criticised Chelsea’s midseason changes and long-term recruitment strategy. Today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,1383,172],"tags":[1505,1047],"class_list":["post-10437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","category-chelsea-news","category-epl","tag-accountability","tag-champions-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}