Mauricio Pochettino believes that it is only a matter of time before his Chelsea side will be ‘competitive,’ but the Argentine might be getting a bit carried away.
The Blues boss was all smiles after Chelsea comfortably saw off their west London rivals Fulham on Monday evening. Emotional goals from Mykhailo Mudryk – his first since signing for the club in January – and Armando Broja – his first since his horrific ACL injury – in quick succession were enough to down exceptionally poor Cottagers.
It was Chelsea’s second consecutive win, having beaten an equally unimpressive Brighton a few days earlier in the EFL Cup. New signing Cole Palmer put in outstanding shifts in both fixtures and there were other encouraging performances, but especially against the Seagulls, Chelsea did not yet look wholly convincing.
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The Blues will look to gain some more confidence on Saturday when they face bottom-side Burnley before a run of tough fixtures that includes games against Arsenal, Tottenham, Man City, Newcastle, Brighton and Man Utd. Perhaps with these tall upcoming tasks in mind, Pochettino made some bold claims after his side’s Fulham victory.
What did Pochettino say?
Speaking to the media after the match, Pochettino was in good spirits. “It was important for us to build our confidence and trust in ourselves,” he said. “The performance was very good. Today the performance was fantastic. I am so happy. We got what we deserved.”
“We are going to be so competitive,” the Argentine continued. “It is an amazing and talented squad. It is only a matter of time.” While there is no denying that Chelsea’s squad is supremely talented – you would hope so after spending north of €1 billion on new players – Pochettino did perhaps get a bit carried away.
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Fulham offered next to nothing going forward, and while some of that was down to Chelsea playing well for once, the performance still was not up to the level to justify claims that Chelsea can compete with the league’s biggest hitters again.
Manchester United fans similarly thought they had overcome their rut after back-to-back wins over Burnley and Crystal Palace, only to get beaten by the latter a few days later, plunging them back into crisis. Chelsea are not out of the woods yet.
