MARC CUCURELLA BREAKS SILENCE ON "STAMFORD BRIDGE BRAWL" DURING SPANISH TV SHOW
Marc Cucurella and Adama Traore reunited on TV to laugh off the wild Chelsea vs West Ham brawl that saw Todibo sent off for a red card.
Marc Cucurella didn’t hold back when he talked about his part in Chelsea’s wild brawl with West Ham last week.
Things got messy at Stamford Bridge in stoppage time. Adama Traore tossed Cucurella to the ground near the corner flag, and that set off a full-on melee. Players from both teams piled in. West Ham’s Jean-Clair Todibo even grabbed Joao Pedro by the throat—he got a straight red card after the ref checked VAR.
A few days later, Cucurella and Traore ended up together on a Spanish TV show, laughing about the chaos like old friends. Cucurella, poking fun at himself, said, “Joao Pedro saved my life, honestly. If I were him, I’d have run the other way. It was near the end of the game—I put my body in, we tangled, and suddenly I’m standing up, way too close to him. So I thought, ‘Let’s see what happens if I stir things up,’ and then he yanked me down. Suddenly everyone’s fighting.”
Traore shrugged it off. “It was just the heat of the moment. I ran into Marc, and I know he’s a good guy. Honestly, it’s nothing personal—it all stays on the pitch.”
Cucurella couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m calm now—there’s a screen between us!”
The dust-up happened on a night full of drama. The Premier League had just dropped Refcam footage showing how tense things got between the two sides. West Ham actually led 2-0 at halftime thanks to Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville. But Chelsea clawed their way back—Pedro and Cucurella scored, and then Enzo Fernandez buried a penalty in stoppage time to seal a third straight win for Chelsea.
After the match, Todibo took to social media to own up to his red card. “In the heat and intensity of the match, I made an inappropriate gesture, which goes against the values of football,” he wrote. “I fully accept my mistake and take responsibility—no excuses. That’s not who I am. I sincerely apologise to my club, teammates, our supporters, and anyone else affected by what I did.”
LIAM ROSENIOR DEFENDS BLUECO OWNERSHIP AMID TENSE STRASBOURG FAN PROTESTS
Liam Rosenior defends the BlueCo relationship as Mamadou Sarr leaves Strasbourg for Chelsea amid growing protests from French fans.
Liam Rosenior made it clear there’s no big club, little club dynamic between Chelsea and Strasbourg, even though BlueCo owns both, and the transfer activity has raised some eyebrows.
People started talking after a flurry of moves on deadline day. Mamadou Sarr ended his Strasbourg loan early and went to Chelsea, while Aaron Anselmino and David Datro Fofana headed the other way for the rest of the season. On top of that, Rosenior himself came over from Strasbourg after Enzo Maresca suddenly left Chelsea on New Year's Day.
With all this back and forth, it’s not hard to see why some, especially Strasbourg’s ultras, feel like their club keeps getting the short end of the stick.
But Rosenior doesn’t buy it. “No. No, I didn’t. You’ll see,” he shot back when someone asked if Strasbourg was just playing second fiddle to Chelsea. “Mamadou’s come back. Aaron Anselmino’s a fantastic player. Datro Fofana’s gone. This isn’t about a junior or senior partner. These are two massive clubs. Strasbourg’s got its own identity, its own culture, and its own targets. They’ve got a big game against Monaco tonight, which I’ll be watching. Gary (O’Neil) has started really well. The whole point is for both clubs to be successful—I believe that’ll happen.”
This whole multi-club ownership thing is messy, and you can’t really blame Strasbourg fans for being upset. There’s always that nagging worry Chelsea will cherry-pick their best players, as they did with Sarr and Emmanuel Emegha, who’s already set to join Chelsea this summer.
But, honestly, even without BlueCo, Strasbourg would probably still struggle to keep hold of their top talent. Whether it’s Chelsea or any other big club sniffing around, that’s just how the football world works.
And it’s easy to ignore what Strasbourg actually gets out of this deal. They’ve tapped into Chelsea’s scouting network, they get access to the loan system, and they’ve benefited from players like Mike Penders, who made an impact after arriving last summer. Their spending power has shot up too—before BlueCo, they spent a few million each season, but now they’re outspending even PSG, dropping nearly £100 million last year.
Still, if you asked Chelsea fans how they’d feel if the roles were reversed, they’d probably admit they wouldn’t be thrilled either.
LIAM ROSENIOR REVEALS SPECIAL FITNESS PLAN TO SAVE COLE PALMER’S SEASON
Discover the data behind Cole Palmer’s new "withdrawn" role and why Liam Rosenior believes the star needs a different approach.