Marc Cucurella helped Chelsea record only their second win in the last nine league games. On a weekend when their top-four rivals Manchester City faltered against Arsenal and Newcastle lost at home to Fulham, it was the Blues who took full advantage.
They had to do it the hard way, coming from a goal down to beat West Ham United at Stamford Bridge. The win lifts them above City into fourth place and puts them on track for Champions League qualification.
After the match, the Chelsea left-back stopped to speak to TelecomAsia about the challenges of the season, his teammates, and the need to win trophies this year.
On the importance of the victory, he said:
I think this win was very important. We’ve come through a few difficult moments, but today was crucial for us. I think we played well and showed a lot of character to come back from a goal down and win.
Chelsea had a strong start to the season, with many key players performing well. Cole Palmer has continued to score, even if he sometimes drifts in and out of games. However, Nicolas Jackson has gone eight matches without finding the net.
This is a concern, especially at such a pivotal point in the season. His form has intensified calls for another striker, but Cucurella insists that the team has rallied behind the Senegalese forward. He added:
For every striker, it’s important to score goals, but with Nicolas, it’s not just about the goals. He gives a lot to the team. He presses really well and makes intelligent movements that help other players. Everyone has tough moments during the season, but the most important thing is that we support him during this period. He plays a lot, and if he continues like this, he’ll score plenty of goals.
One of the team’s biggest improvements this season has been the strong sense of camaraderie. During the match against West Ham, Levi Colwill was at fault for the goal Chelsea conceded, but several of his teammates made a point to encourage him after the game.
Cucurella says that kind of support is vital and something they must keep doing.
He played very well in the second half and throughout the game, but like all of us, he can make mistakes. We’re all teammates, and when someone makes a mistake, we try to support them. Today, we showed that, and we’re really happy with how we’ve backed him. He’s a very important player for us, and hopefully, in the next game, he’ll do even better and maybe even score.
While Colwill struggled, Moisés Caicedo excelled. The Ecuadorian has been one of Chelsea’s standout performers all season, and he once again demonstrated his skill, power, and timing to neutralize West Ham’s attack.
Asked about his teammates, Cucurella was particularly pleased with Caicedo’s performance, especially considering there were doubts about the value of the money Chelsea spent on him. He added:
Moisés is very important for us. I know him well from our time at Brighton. He’s a very relaxed guy, and he really shows himself on the pitch. He’s one of the team’s key players, and we’re all very happy for him. I’m especially happy for him because he had a tough start here, but he worked hard to overcome it. Now, he deserves all the praise he’s getting.
This weekend, Chelsea face a competition they are eager to win: the FA Cup. They will play against Brighton, a club Cucurella first joined when he arrived in England. There is pressure on the owners to deliver the club’s first major trophy in years, and on the players to prove they can carry on the legacy of Chelsea's past successes.
Cucurella acknowledges this challenge and is determined to rise to it. When asked about facing Brighton, he said:
I think we are here to win trophies. This is a big club, and our main objective is to win major trophies. We are in the process of building something, and this is a long season, so we need to stay focused and take it one game at a time to achieve our goal.
Chelsea are still alive in the Europa Conference League, and they can still finish in the top four of the league. If they were to win the FA Cup, and achieve all these feats, they would exceed their initial targets for the season.
