Starting “a new project is always difficult” and, despite Chelsea’s failed start in the league, “we must continue to believe strongly in ourselves,” said coach Mauricio Pochettino on Tuesday on the eve of facing Brighton in the Cup. of the League.
“We have always known that a new project is always difficult” to implement, said the technician appointed at the end of May. The situation was “a little unstable” this summer and the team really started to play together “after the transfer market closed” on September 1, he pointed out.
For the Argentinian, the team then quickly “showed its ideas and the way it dominates” during the matches. “Everyone in this country sees that Chelsea deserve more but we failed to score goals, the most important thing in football.”
The Londoners remain in three league matches without scoring, a poor run punctuated on Sunday by a 1-0 defeat in numerical inferiority against Aston Villa.
“It’s normal to be criticized, of course, since we’re not winning, but we have to continue to believe strongly in ourselves,” Pochettino suggested at a press conference.
For the former coach of Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain, in particular, “the team is very well organized, the efforts made are enormous”, but “we are not clinical enough in front of goal”, he said. he adds. “This is what we must try to resolve and try to bring more confidence to our offensive players.”
Pochettino assures that the League Cup is “one of the objectives” of the season. “We have to think it’s an opportunity to win a trophy.”
Chelsea are not playing in any European competition this season, weighed down by their final twelfth place last year in the league. The Blues, deprived of several players due to injury (Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Romeo Lavia, Christopher Nkunku…) are currently fourteenth after just one victory, two draws and three defeats.
