Mauricio Pochettino has said he needs to be more “cautious” when talking about his players’ performances after the final whistle, after the Chelsea manager criticized his team for a lack of maturity after they drew with Sheffield United.
Chelsea came close to making it back-to-back Premier League wins after their 4-3 thriller against Manchester United last week, but the relegation-hit club responded late and saw the Blues leave Bramall Lane with just one point.
The Argentine manager had been brusque in his assessment of the latest draw, but before facing Everton on Monday, Pochettino revealed he had made too strong a statement.
“I think I need to be more cautious with my words after the game,” Pochettino said on Friday. “It is a fact that we have a young team, but I also need to convey a different message.
‘The message is to try to improve. We are working very hard to do it. We need to accept that this is reality.
Mauricio Pochettino admitted he needed to be “more cautious” with his choice of words after the final whistle and focus on training the players.
Chelsea blew their slim lead against Sheffield United on Sunday and drew 2-2 away.
Oli McBurnie equalized three minutes into extra time to send Chelsea home with a point.
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“Sometimes I need to be more positive because we have a really good team, that’s the reality.”
After the final whistle on Sunday, Pochettino lamented that his team might not be ready to compete at the highest level.
“At 52 years old, you identify very quickly if the team is ready to compete or not,” the coach said. ‘Maybe this group is not mature enough to compete in matches every three days. It is a new team and we are still getting to know their profiles.
‘The process always takes time. It’s not something magical. It is a project, a three or five year process to build a team.
We are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. At the beginning we were not in a good position, but that is normal. We need to accept it now and work to try to solve our problems,” he added.
But Pochettino was keen to emphasize that there were still inexperience issues within his team, and discussed their weaknesses against bottom-of-the-table opposition before facing another relegation-threatened team: the Toffees.
Noni Madueke (left) had given her team the lead with a shot in the 66th minute.
The Blues will be looking to bounce back from Monday’s disappointment against Everton at home.
“When we face teams like Man City, Man United, Tottenham or Liverpool, the team always shows good quality,” Pochettino said.
‘The problem for us is consistency and when we analyze it, the lack of maturity. That will only be done over time to get the balance right.’