Mauricio Pochettino has said that he needs to be more ‘cautious’ about how he discusses his players’ performances after the final whistle after the Chelsea manager called out his side for a lack of maturity after they were held to a draw by Sheffield United.
Chelsea were close to recording back-to-back Premier League victories after their 4-3 thriller against Manchester United last week, but the relegation-stricken club hit back late on to see the Blues leave Bramall Lane with just one point.
The Argentine manager had been curt in his assessment of the late stalemate, but ahead of facing Everton on Monday, Pochettino revealed that he had made too strong a statement.
‘I think I need to be more cautious about my words after the game,’ Pochettino said on Friday. ‘It is a fact we have a young squad, but also I need to put out a different message.
‘The message is to try and improve. We are working very hard to do so. We need to accept that is the reality.
Mauricio Pochettino admitted that he needed to be ‘more cautious’ with his choice of words after the final whistle and focus on building up players
‘Sometimes I need to be more positive because we have a really good squad – that is the reality.’
After the final whistle on Sunday, Pochettino had lamented that his team might not be ready to compete at the highest level.
‘At 52, you identify really quickly whether the team is ready to compete or not,’ the manager said. ‘Maybe this group is not mature enough to compete in games every three days. It’s a new team and we are still learning about their profiles.
‘The process always takes time. It’s not a magic thing. It’s a project, a three or five year process to build a team.
We are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. We were not in a good position in the beginning, but that’s normal. We need to accept it now and work to try and fix our problems,’ he added.
Chelsea let their slender lead slip away against Sheffield United on Sunday and were held to a 2-2 draw on the road
But Pochettino was keen to stress that there were still issues of inexperience within his squad, and discussed their frailties in the face of bottom-of-the-table opposition ahead of meeting another relegation-threatened side in the Toffees.
‘When we face teams like Man City, Man United, Tottenham or Liverpool – always the team shows good quality,’ Pochettino said.
‘The problem for us is to be consistent and when we analyse it, a lack of maturity. That’s only with time to get the right balance.’
