Supporters and ex players may raise concerns about Chelsea’s overall recruitment model but there is no denying that there are some really good players on the books.

Talent isn’t always enough, you also need the mentality and work ethic to succeed at a club like Chelsea and one man in particular has combined all of those elements since joining three years ago.

That man is of course Marc Cucurella. From being booed by supporters at Stamford Bridge under Graham Potter to now having his own personalised song and being one of the key cogs of Maresca’s system as well as being a huge reason for Pochettino’s late season form last season, his turn around has been incredible.

Loyal fans of Cucurella’s would have always predicted this outcome, after all, there is a reason why Pep Guardiola battled it out with Chelsea for his signature and why Manchester United tried to take him on loan when he was out of favour early on under Mauricio Pochettino.

The work ethic and mentality of Cucurella is admirable. Despite a tough start to life at Chelsea and having the pressure of being the most expensive left back of all time, he knuckled down and worked hard for the team while simultaneously developing his defensive ability and overall skillset, especially going forward.

Cucurella is now a key member of Enzo Maresca’s “project” at Chelsea and brings some much desired experience and winning mentality to a very young squad.

This season, Cucurella has played FIVE different roles under Enzo Maresca, outlining both his ability as a player and his tactical intelligence.

Role one – left centre back

Chelsea build up on the ball with a 3-2-5 under Enzo Maresca and this suits Cucurella perfectly as a left centre back.

In Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa in December, Cucurella can be seen as a left centre back in the 3-2-5 build up shape with Colwill and Wesley Fofana, whilst Caicedo inverts into midfield from a starting right back position.

He is extremely comfortable on the ball and can break lines and progress the play from the back.

Whilst long balls are not in the typical Maresca game plan, Cucurella possesses the technical ability to hit a diagonal or thread the ball down the line.

Role two – left back

Cucurella’s natural position is of course left back, but it is important to highlight it anyway, as he tends to have responsibilities of moving into midfield.

In this picture here, you can see Cucurella in his natural position of left back and in this particular match against West Ham, he alternated between left back and midfield to provide support to Caicedo.

During this particular build up phase, Cucurella is providing the width in an attempt to stretch West Ham while Moises Caicedo holds down the six position on his own.

But, in the same match, Cucurella could also be seen forming a double pivot with Caicedo so that Jadon Sancho could occupy the width.

These variations even when playing in his natural position show the tactical flexibility that Enzo Maresca has implemented and Cucurella is the perfect player to help with that.

Per 90, Cucurella makes 2.00 tackles, 1.52 blocks, 0.73 interceptions and 4.26 ball recoveries.

These stats are more impressive when taken into account that plenty of fullbacks who are required to defend more in their system display similar rankings, such as Lewis-Skelly and Antonee Robinson.

Role three – Inverted full back

As we just said, Cucurella often forms a two man midfield in possession with Moises Caicedo due to Romeo Lavia’s injury.

When Chelsea lose the ball, Cucurella will slot back into left back, Enzo Fernandez is then tasked with running back from his advanced eight position to protect Caicedo.

As with every picture, you can see the 3-2-5 base again with Colwill, Tosin and Gusto. Off the ball this will then become a back four with Cucurella.

The inverted full back role suits Cucurella down to a tee, he is press resistant but also smart at winning fouls if needs be and he is quite a sneaky good dribbler, too.

He can play quick combinations with Caicedo or simply receive the ball and then pass it straight back to the centre backs in an attempt to lure the opposition’s press into becoming frustrated, consequently pressing higher before one of Chelsea’s three centre backs release the ball out wide or through the lines into central space.

This role is of course what provided Mauricio Pochettino success at the end of last season. Chelsea won five out of five games towards the back end with Cucurella inverting into midfield.

Role four – left eight

One of the new ways Enzo Maresca has used Marc Cucurella this season is deploying him as a left hand sided number eight on the ball.

While the base principles are still there, Cucurella can be seen occupying a left sided eight position.

In this role, he will often attempt to be found with a line breaker before carrying the ball forward into dangerous zones.

Cucurella’s off ball sharp movements and IQ help him find space in this position.

Maresca has tended to deploy Cucurella here in games against low blocks where Chelsea are struggling to get on the ball or sustain attacks in the final third.

One added element to this role is the box crashing that both Enzo Fernandez and Cucurella have seen success with.

Both players are encouraged to attack the box by anticipating crosses from the right hand side.

For example, Cucurella put this tactical instruction into action against Brentford when he scored a diving header to put Chelsea in front, via a cross from Madueke on the right.

Role five – right sided eight / ten?

Now, I have put a question mark on this one because I have only just seen this for the first time this week and maybe it is more of a “floater” role, but Cucurella popped up in a right sided advanced midfield position against Southampton.

Here, you can see Cucurella pick up the position..

Cucurella then combined with Sancho before laying the ball through to Cole Palmer.

I asked Connor Holden of Squawka about this sequence: “This was all about Cucurella noticing the space to attack, making a run to then create space elsewhere for others to exploit”

Whether this position is taken up more regularly in the next few weeks remains to be seen, what is for certain though is Cucurella’s extremely high Football IQ and understanding of the game state.

The journey from being unrightfully booed to being one of the best all-round Footballers in the Premier League has been admirable and at 26, Cucurella is only just entering the peak of his career.