Jamie Carragher has criticized Chelsea defender Mark Cucurella’s second-half play in a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City, claiming the Spanish full-back ‘didn’t want to defend’.
City have narrowed the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal to five points.
Carragher was unimpressed with his defensive ability in the summer of £60million. “I wasn’t happy with the second half until Cucurella dropped out,” he said. sky sports“When it comes to price tags…
Marc Cucurella watches Riyad Mahrez score City’s goal
“If someone doesn’t want to defend, it’s actually worse. In one-on-one situations, he seemed unwilling to defend.
“When you see a defender constantly jumping in and they keep passing him, they don’t want to defend.
“Sometimes you think, ‘I can get the ball and I can go get it’, but if that’s your plan for every winger you play against, that’s not right.”
Former Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink disagreed with Carragher’s verdict against Kukurera, arguing that the 24-year-old Kukurera wanted to defend but performed poorly against the Premier League champions.
Hasselbaink argued, “I disagree. I think he wants to protect, but I think he just struggled today. Man City aimed at him.”
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Watch Free: Highlights from Manchester City’s victory over Chelsea in the Premier League.
“His defense was bad, but more often than not he was overloaded. He didn’t get the help he deserved.
“He wants to defend. I think he played a really bad game and Man City acknowledged that. Their attack on the right flank was 50%. It’s aimed at him.
“He played a really bad game. He’s not a good defender.”
Grealish: I thought Kepa would stop Cross
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Jack Grealish looks back on Man City’s 1-0 win over Chelsea and gives a candid assessment of his City career so far and how difficult he finds it compared to his time at Aston Villa. increase.
Another Chelsea player whose role in goal could be called into question is goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
City winger Grealish looked back on the match with Sky Sports’ team of experts and felt he could have stopped the first cross to Mahrez.
Grealish told Sky Sports, “You know what?
Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez celebrates in front of Kepa Arrizabalaga
“At some point I felt like the goalkeeper was going to get it. I don’t know. Kudos to Cross!
“When I first saw it, I thought, ‘I played too close to him.'”
Hasselbaink agreed with Grealish, saying Chelsea’s goalkeeper was just as responsible for conceding the goal as Cucurella was.
“For me, keepers can do better,” he said. “The goalkeeper’s starting position is very good, but he can get this. If Cucurella is in the right position and the goalkeeper misses it, he can kick it with his right foot. ”