Former Chelsea captain Frank Leboeuf has explained why he was "not very happy" with the Blues' win over Leicester City on Sunday.
Enzo Maresca's side beat the Foxes 1-0 courtesy of Marc Cucurella's fourth Premier League goal of the season.
The result saw Chelsea leapfrog Manchester City – who had lost to Nottingham Forest the previous day – back into the top four, putting Champions League qualification in their hands once again.
Despite the positive outcome, Leboeuf, who made 204 appearances for Chelsea between 1996 and 2001, told ESPN after the game that he wasn’t impressed.
"Everybody has to work harder, come on," said the Frenchman. "Guys, go back to your basics, go back to where you were when you were winning games, not overthinking."
"It’s funny because they keep the ball when it’s useless, but when they needed to in the last 10-15 minutes, Chelsea had just 20% possession," he explained. "They were completely lost against Leicester."
He concluded: "I'm not very happy."
One player who did escape his criticism, however, was Cucurella.
The Spaniard’s goal was his fifth in all competitions this season and his second in as many Premier League games, having also scored in the 4-0 win over Southampton last week.
Leboeuf had previously slammed Chelsea’s £62 million signing of Cucurella in 2022, telling ESPN midway through his first season that "he doesn’t belong to this level."
After Sunday’s win, he took back those words.
"I want to mention somebody because I was very harsh, very hard on him about two years ago," he said. "Cucurella. I call him Cucu the saviour! That’s what I call him. He’s become my idol! That guy is amazing: defensively, offensively."
"Cucu the saviour, I love you!" he proclaimed.
Cucurella proving his doubters wrong
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Leboeuf wasn’t the only one who doubted Cucurella during his difficult debut season – fans did too.
But the left-back showed improvement last year, and this season, he is proving exactly why Chelsea invested so heavily in him.
Fresh off winning the European Championships with Spain in the summer, the 26-year-old has looked like a new man.
Not only has he been rock-solid in defence, but, with five goals to his name, he’s become an unexpected attacking weapon – a huge boost for Chelsea given their injury struggles and Cole Palmer’s recent dip in form.
More than anything, he embodies the never-say-die attitude Chelsea need right now – fighting for every ball, chasing every lost cause, and throwing himself into challenges.
Just look at the way he celebrated after clattering into Leicester’s Bobby De Cordova-Reid in the corner at the weekend.
Now, the only question left is: what’s the secret to his transformation? Paella? Estrella? Or simply Cucurella?
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