Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella admits it is hard to build a rapport with team-mates given the enormous turnover of players at Stamford Bridge.
The West London club had another frantic transfer window, adding a further 13 players to an already bloated squad along with a new head coach in Enzo Maresca. This led to the creation of a so-called ‘bomb squad’ that included the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Ben Chilwell, Raheem Sterling and Trevoh Chalobah.
All but Chilwell found an escape route on deadline day but it did little to alter an impression of a club without a clear strategy.
Cucurella was a key part of the Spain squad that won the European Championship in the summer and believes a period of calm under Maresca is the way forward.
He told Spanish news agency EFE: “I’m happy, I think the coach we have is very good, he has very clear ideas.
“We’ve come from years of changes of coaches, let’s see if we can get stability without many changes, and that the manager can transmit his ideas.
“We need stability, we have very high-level players and hopefully we can have that patience that is needed, that calm, so that everything goes well. We have the level, we just need stability and for the coaches and players to be allowed to work in order to do something important.”
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— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 4, 2024
Revolving door makes things difficult, says Cucurella
As for developing a strong team spirit, Cucurella conceded it is tricky when there are so many new faces.
He added: “It’s true that it’s difficult.
“Here [with Spain] everything is much easier to create a good atmosphere. At Chelsea I try, but it’s a time of change in which many players leave and others come.
“One of the keys to success at the Euros was the good group we had. In these tournaments you’re together all day, we have to put up with each other and if we hadn’t gotten along, it would have been difficult. Creating a good atmosphere comes naturally to me.”
