Marc Cucurella says that the recent struggles of Chelsea all have to do with opponents who treat them with more respect than before.
The side of Enzo Maresca climbed back to fourth place after a happy comeback win against West Ham on Monday. It was just their second victory in eight games, but the Chelsea boss greeted the mental power of his players after he fell behind.
And Cucurella thinks they still get a grip on teams that are more defensive than before.
“I think now many teams come here to defend and play against attacking football,” he said. “If you have 10 or 11 players behind the ball, it is very difficult, but we have to stay in our plan and stay patient, I think we (against West Ham) stayed on our plan and we came back.
“That is very important because teams are now starting to respect us and maybe they cannot play against us personally, so that they have to play a defense system.”
The priority of Chelsea remains in the Champions League of next season, in which Maresca emphasizes that they should not get excessive confidence about a top-four finish. But they are favorites to win the Europa Conference League and to be confronted with Brighton in the FA Cup -celebrated round on Saturday evening.
And Cucurella added: “I think we are here to win trophies. This is a big club and our main goal is to win big trophies.
“We are doing well in the process and this is a long season, we have to stay focused and stay a game per game to achieve our goal.”
The Spain International also supported striker Nicolas Jackson to get out of his difficult run. Striker Jackson has not scored since mid -December, but Cucurella said: “I think it is important for every striker in the world to score goals, but with Nicolas it is not just the goals, he gives a lot to the team.
“He presses very well and takes a lot of movement in and out for other players and that is also very good. Everyone has difficult moments during the season, but the most important thing is that we are with him during this period he plays a lot and certainly when he like that like that continues, he will score many goals. “
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