"Cucurella Is A Defensive Liability": Fans Blast 24-year-old Defender Following ‘Awful’ Showing In 1-0 Man City Loss

Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella has come in for heavy criticism from fans following his performance in the side's 1-0 defeat to Manchester City.

Graham Potter's men suffered their fourth loss in six league games after second-half substitute Riyad Mahrez's 63rd-minute effort proved decisive.

The Blues were in the contest throughout, showing desire on and off the ball, but City's strength in depth made the difference.However, one Chelsea player who had a night to forget was Cucurella.

The Spanish left-back struggled against City's attackers, losing possession on 12 occasions and being dribbled past on five occasions.He arrived at Stamford Bridge from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer for £60 million after a fantastic campaign at the Amex Stadium.

Cucurella was named Brighton's Player of the Season for his debut season in the Premier League.Yet, the Spaniard has failed to live up to expectations at Chelsea and was left scrambling to try and prevent Mahrez from slotting in from close range and scoring the winner.

He has made 20 appearances across competitions, providing two assists and helping the side keep five clean sheets.

Many Blues fans believe Cucurella's strengths lie in attack rather than defensively, and even then, he hasn't set the world alight with his presence going forward.

Here are some reactions from supporters on Twitter who may wish to see Hall continue in the Spaniard's place:

@SeunMobolaji:

"Hall has to start if Azpi is playing. Gives balance to the team. Cucurella does not attack."

@frankedoho:

"Since Lewis Hall came on, all our Cucurella problems came to an end."

@ExpectedChelsea:

Re: "Cucurella, I think the signing looks worse with every passing match, especially for the price"

"I'm not confident he's world-class at any aspect of FB/WB play and he has the type of brain-freezes that would make young players apologize. It's not looking good"

@iamOkon:

The positives for Chelsea from this game are Zakaria’s energy and ball carrying skills in midfield and Chukwuemeka’s confidence for a young man. Cucurella is a defensive liability. #CHEMCI

@RealTomHoskins:

"Decent performance in the end"

"GP needs to give the younger players more minutes"

"Someone find the receipt for Cucurella"

@l3ahpar:

"I've seen enough of Cucurella tbh. He's not amazing going forward and simply average at defending at best. Plays a decent pass from time to time, maybe"

"If he was Marcelo level going forward ok fair enough but he's not, we have to admit this now"