Graham Potter believes the Chelsea fans had a “real dislike” for Marc Cucurella during his time as head coach at Stamford Bridge.
Cucurella was named Player of the Match by Manchester United legend Gary Neville on Sky Sports commentary duty after a strong performance against Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka on Sunday.
He has been fantastic for Chelsea in 2024 and was the best left-back at Euro 2024, helping Spain become European champions.
Blues head coach Enzo Maresca has preferred club captain Reece James at left-back in recent weeks but started Cucurella with the key duel against Saka in mind.
Cucurella’s first year at Stamford Bridge was extremely difficult for him having cost the club £60million after one year at Brighton.
Potter soon followed him from the Amex but only lasted until March as head coach and was replaced by Frank Lampard as interim manager until the end of 2022/23.
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Cucurella and Potter both endured a tough time at Chelsea that season but Cucurella has come on leaps and bounds to justify his £60m price tag.
Speaking after Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal on Sunday, Potter praised Cucurella for his improvement and admitted that he feels the club’s supporters did not like him in the 22/23 campaign.
“Delighted for Marc Cucurella because he had a tough start to his career here at Chelsea,” Potter said on Sky Sports punditry duty.
“He came in with a high fee at a time when the team wasn’t functioning as well as what he was used to.
“He had to take some stick here at Stamford Bridge; it was quite hostile at times. Credit to him.
“There was a period of time when…if results weren’t going so well, you want to do as much as you can to have the crowd with you but it was obvious that there was a real dislike for Marc here.
“It goes into your thinking about whether to put him in. I remember we played him against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and he was amazing, man of the match, so it’s a credit to him.
“He’s got the character. You’re not going to get a person in terms of how he is with his teammates, how good he is around the club, around the place, and how he fights every single day.
“That performance against Saka requires an intensity and a commitment every single day and he’s rewarded for that.”
