Jamie Carragher was not impressed at all by Marc Cucurella, blaming the Chelsea summer signing for Manchester City’s opener at Stamford Bridge on Thursday.
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Riyad Mahrez opened the scoring for the Premier League club, tapping home through a superb ball across the face of goal from Jack Grealish.
It was a good move from Pep Guardiola’s team, but Carragher was left frustrated with Cucurella for allowing Mahrez get on the end of the ball from Grealish.
The Chelsea left-back was ahead of the Man City winger but stopped and allowed him to run past him, ultimately scoring as a result.
The Liverpool legend says it was not an isolated incident, keeping an eye on the former Brighton star who cost over £60m, accusing him of not wanting to defend.
‘I’m watching Cucurella defending, he’s got five yards on Riyad Mahrez, he runs back in but then he stops,’ Carragher said on the Sky Sports coverage of the game.
‘It’s a fantastic ball across but Cucurella stops and it’s a simple tap in. ‘Could the goalkeeper do more? I think he can. I’m pretty certain he could have done more, I certainly know Cucurella could have done more.
‘I’ve been questioning Cucurella in this second half. He doesn’t want to defend, certainly not one-on-one.’
Carragher added after the game: ‘When you’re talking about the price tag, he can’t defend. ‘I actually think someone who doesn’t want to defend is worse, and it looked like he didn’t want to in one-on-one situations.’
The former Getafe defender has played 16 Premier League matches for the London club since arriving at Stamford Bridge, either as a left-back or left wing-back, with Chilwell struggling with injury so far this campaign.
