Mauricio Pochettino has found new Chelsea secret weapon as shock problem solved

If you'd told me three months ago that inverting Marc Cucurella of all players would be the move to help save Mauricio Pochettino's job, I would've looked at you and laughed.

The Spaniard, who cost Chelsea a whopping £60m, has often seen his time at Stamford Bridge come under significant criticism, with his play never being the level of which supporters were promised after his award-winning 2021–22 campaign under Graham Potter at Brighton. But there have been flashes of promise.

A period of a few games earlier this season where Pochettino was forced to play him out at right-back, due to Reece James and Malo Gusto both being injured, proved that he could be utilised in ways other than his traditional position. Now the 25-year-old has been handed new life with his inverted full-back role proving to be the perfect foil to a lot of the problems that had plagued the Blues earlier in the season.

Him slotting in as an extra body in midfield has meant an easier time for the likes of Moises Caicedo and Conor Gallagher, who are now able to freely move around without having to worry about the space they've just vacated potentially being exploited as ruthlessly as it was before. The 2-2 draw against top-four contenders Aston Villa was a perfect example, with Cucurella's presence allowing the Blues' double pivot to head further upfield in order to drag themselves back into a game they could've won if not for the questionable VAR decision that ruled out Axel Disasi's winner in the dying seconds.

Since then, it's continued to work perfectly well, with London derby wins over bitter rivals Tottenham and then the 5-0 thrashing of West Ham truly showing his capabilities to the fullest with arguably Chelsea's most complete performance under the