Cuadrado shares his debut thoughts

I was reasonably pleased with Juan Cuadrado's first start for Chelsea, although that's probably more of a function of the late winner from Willian than anything else. I'm reasonably pleased with the whole word right now. Reaction from other fans was mixed, but I don't think anyone was expecting him to be a world-beater, so his decent but unspectacular play was broadly in line with expectations.

But Cuadrado's opinion of the game is slightly more interesting than mine, not least because it'll give us an idea of how he'll adapt to the Premier League:

The difference is that the Italian game is a little more tactical, whereas here it’s a bit quicker and more end to end. The transition from defence to attack is much faster than in Italy.

I feel great to have this opportunity to play for one of the best clubs in the world and for Jose Mourinho, who is a great manager. I’m happy to have played my first game at Stamford Bridge, it’s a wonderful stadium. The first two games have been hard but we’re happy with the points.

Source: ChelseaFC.com.

The attack-defence transition is in theory where Cuadrado should thrive. Like Eden Hazard on the left, he's deadly in picking off isolated, backtracking defenders, and if we can score early and force teams to come forward, as we've been doing all year, Cuadrado might contribute to some spectacular moves. Hopefully it won't be too long until we see the best of what the Colombian has to offer.