Mauricio Pochettino admits he needs to be more ‘cautious’ about tearing into his Chelsea team’s performances after dubbing his young squad ‘not mature enough’ in Sheffield United stalemate
- The Argentine manager questioned the players’ lack of competitiveness after the draw
- Pochettino is preparing for a new team that is threatened with relegation in Everton
- Are 40 points still enough to prevent the drop? Listen to the It all starts podcast
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has vowed to limit his post-match comments after criticizing his players following the 2-2 draw against Sheffield United last weekend.
Pochettino doubted the maturity and competitive spirit of his team after relegation-threatened Blades forced an equalizer deep in extra time.
“As a 52-year-old you identify very quickly when a team is ready to compete or not,” the Argentinian said at Bramall Lane.
‘Maybe because this group is still not mature enough to get started every three days. For various reasons, we struggle to compete in these types of games (against smaller teams).”
But at Friday’s press conference ahead of Monday night’s home game against Everton – another team at the wrong end of the table – Pochettino explained that he now feels that expressing his frustrations could work against his team.
Mauricio Pochettino admitted he had to be ‘more careful’ with his choice of words
Chelsea let their slim lead slip away against Sheffield United and were held to a 2-2 draw on the road
Oli McBurnie equalized three minutes into extra time to send Chelsea home with one point
“I have to be more careful with my words after the match,” he said. ‘It is a fact that we have a young team, but I think I have to adapt to a different message.
‘The message is: try to improve this week. I think we have worked very hard to improve in all areas. We talked a lot, but I think we need to be more positive.
‘Of course we have to accept that (the youth of the team) is a reality, but sometimes (I have to) keep my feelings and be more positive, because we have a very good team.
‘We have to support them and work very hard to help them perform better in the next match. I’m happy with the way they trained this week.’
Noni Madueke (left) had given his team the lead in the 66th minute with a shot
The Blues can recover from the disappointment at home against Everton on Monday” class=”blkBorder img-share” style=”max-width:100%” />
The Blues can recover from the disappointment at home against Everton on Monday
And he agreed that immediately after a match may not be the best time to analyze a performance.
“We are winners and we want to win,” he said. ‘We came here because we accepted the pressure, but we also knew that Chelsea will be in the history of winning. Sometimes after 90 minutes, if you don’t win or draw, like against Sheffield, you feel very disappointed and very frustrated and then you have to face the media and stay calm.
“But I think there are still a lot of things we have to play for and we have to be positive and think positive. I want to stop talking about negative things. We have to be positive and create a good atmosphere.’
Ben Chilwell is back in training for the match against Everton, but Enzo Fernandez and Raheem Sterling are doubtful.
