This summer marks two years since Cucurella made his switch from Brighton to Chelsea. In that time, the Spaniard has faced much criticism but also great respect. After a tough start for the Blues, Cucurella has emerged as a must start player ever since Maresca has taken the reigns. Last season Cucurella made the Left-back position his own, shutting down some of Europe’s best Right-Wingers and participating effectively in the attacking third. During the 24-25 season, Cucurella played mainly as an inverted wing-back, tucking into the midfield partnering Caicedo in the center of the park and allowing Enzo to move forward into an attacking midfielder role. However, during the past Club World Cup, Cucurella was asked to play a virtually different role in every game. Whether he played as an inverted full-back, inverted wing-back or even as a traditional full-back, Cucurella consistently performed at the highest level. Take for example the game against LAFC, Cucurella played as an attacking inverted wing-back, finding himself in very high position and at times being Chelsea’s furthest man forward.

Against Flamengo, Cuccurella played mainly as a full-back, maintaining the width on the left hand side, allowing the winger to tuck in.

Against Benfica Cucurella played in a inverted-wing back position, his natural position from last season. In this role, Cucurella allowed the Left-Winger to be consistently in a one v one situation, while also creating an overload in the center of the park.

In the final against PSG, Cucurella played as an inverted full-back, where he played deeper, almost like a third center back. This tactical tweak was mainly to nullify the threat of Doué on the right and limit PSG’s chance of a counter attack, while also creating an overload in the backline while they attempt to build up from the back.

The Club World Cup has shined a light on what Mersca plans to do with Cucurella next season, but also showcases to the world Cucurella’s rare flexibility. There is maybe 2-3 other wing-backs in the entire world who can perform each of these positions effectively game after game. This is the reason Cucurella will be so crucial to Chelsea next season. Maresca can utilize him in any position next season, knowing well he can perform each role whenever called upon. This will make it very difficult for the opposing manager to determine whether Cucurella will play inside or outside, higher or lower. Maresca will already be a step ahead of his opponent even before the game starts.

After watching many of Chelsea’s games last season and their games during the Club World Cup I believe to have a found a correlation between Cucurella’s positioning and the level of their opponents. Against stronger sides Cucurella played deeper, against mid-lower table sides Cucurella tucked into the midfield and against much weaker sides, the Spaniard pushed much higher up. Therefore, I believe against the top 6 sides and other high performing sides, Cucurella will be deployed as an inverted full-back. Against mid-lower table sides he will play as an inverted wing-back, and only against the bottom 3-4 sides Cucurella will play as an attacking wing-back.

With positioning (on and off the ball) playing an increasingly important role in soccer, having a player like Cucurella is a luxury. Cucurella’s intelligence in terms of knowing when to invert vs staying out wide and his tactical flexibility, makes Chelsea a much more unpredictable team and therefore a much harder team to face.