Mauricio Pochettino hailed his ‘intelligent’ Chelsea team for learning from past mistakes in their thrashing of West Ham.
The Blues put five goals past David Moyes’ side at Stamford Bridge but Pochettino was particularly pleased by the fourth, which saw Noni Madueke unselfishly set-up team-mate Nicolas Jackson for a tap-in.
Madeuke and Jackson were involved in a heated row during Chelsea’s 6-0 victory over Everton last month, with both players attempting to take a penalty instead of designated taker Cole Palmer.
Both were heavily criticised for their antics but Pochettino insisted Sunday’s performance showed his young team has matured.
‘The assist from Noni to Jackson, that showed that we learn, that we are smart,’ Pochettino said.
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino hailed his players for learning from past mistakes
Noni Madueke unselfishly set-up team-mate Nicolas Jackson for Chelsea’s fourth goal
Chelsea duo Madueke and Jackson squabbled over a penalty against Everton last month
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‘The situation with the penalty if you remember against Everton, we received many criticisms but a young team always needs to make mistakes, we need to feel this situation to improve.
‘We are able to improve it because we are smart and intelligent people. I think today was a great action of Noni to see how the group is starting to live and starting to feel in between them.
‘This always is process that takes time. You never know if it’s going to take one month, six months or a year. The most important thing is that they start to set the principles feel and live like a group of players that are creating all the links in order to compete.
‘That is the reality. I am so pleased for that because we [the staff] are part of this process, helping them to grow and be more mature and improve all the aspects.
‘I think that it’s only the first step, massive step but it is a step that we wanted to reach. From there, we can evolve in all the other aspects.
‘Without principles, without things that we start to show in a competitive way, it’s impossible to evolve other aspects.’
Moyes, meanwhile, questioned his players’ mental toughness after conceding five goals in consecutive away matches.
‘It’s happened several times this season, which I’ve certainly not enjoyed,’ Moyes said.
The Blues put five goals past David Moyes’ side at Stamford Bridge on Sunday
‘Players not in their positions, running out of position, opening up too easily.
‘We were lacking toughness, leadership, mental toughness. We’ve now had two away games where we’ve conceded five.
‘The manager will always take the responsibility because that’s what you do in this job, you have to prepare them and get them right, setting them up.
‘Somewhere along the line the players have to take responsibility for doing their jobs, being hard to play against, being aggressive and competitive. I question if we were all that in the first-half.’
