Mauricio Pochettino has instructed Chelsea’s gamers they must be extra naughty if they’re to achieve the extent required to maneuver on from an detached begin to the season.
The group have dominated for lengthy intervals in all 4 Premier League video games to date however defensive errors and a continued lack of penetration in assault have meant they’ve picked up simply 4 factors and sit twelfth.
Defeat at residence to Nottingham Forest earlier than the worldwide break was a microcosm of the facet’s early struggles beneath Pochettino, with the guests’ Anthony Elanga allowed to run freely by way of the guts of Chelsea’s defence to attain the sport’s solely purpose earlier than striker Nicolas Jackson skied a gilt-edged likelihood to rescue some extent.
It mirrored the loss to West Ham in August through which the group managed the primary half on the London Stadium earlier than permitting their hosts to nick a 3-1 win, thanks partially to a missed penalty from Enzo Fernandez and a spot-kick conceded by record-signing Moises Caicedo on his debut.
The supervisor stated that while performances warranted a higher factors return, his gamers must sharpen their aggressive instincts if they’re to make good on his acknowledged purpose of returning the membership to the Champions League.
The group face Bournemouth on the Vitality Stadium on Sunday seeking to win away from residence for less than the second time since March.
“The team performance was good in the first month,” stated Pochettino. “We didn’t get the points that we deserved. The organisation was good, the way that want to play. Players believe in the way that we want to play.
“If you see the data, we are very good in possession, we are very good in construction and building. Only what we are missing is to score goals. That’s the most important thing in football.
“We want to be more competitive. We cannot concede this type of goal we conceded against Nottingham. We cannot be so weak, we need to be more solid. We have players with experience, players that can do better.
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“At the moment I think my feeling is bad because we are playing well, we are showing to everyone we can compete, we dominate games against teams like Liverpool.
“But in the end we need to be more competitive – I say that because I don’t want to use another word. We need to be more naughty, more aggressive.
“They’re not too nice. (They need) to compete better. To increase our level is not about our quality, it’s to compete. To compete more in every single moment of the game that requires some thing to do. Because we’re still building the team, finding this balance, for sure it’s a matter of time.
“I try to describe why we didn’t get the points we deserved. At some moment of the game you need to show more this quality, this mental strength, to have this experience to manage better to deal with some circumstance in the game. Sometimes it’s not about only talent.
“When you see the Forest game after two weeks, the time we’ve spent trying to identify why we lost the game, it’s really tough. But that’s not to do with last season, we can’t blame last season. We need to blame ourselves and find solutions in ourselves. We cannot blame the past, we cannot blame the feeling of last season. Now it’s a new era, everything is new.
Pochettino confirmed that Romeo Lavia faces a spell out of the team after injuring his ankle in training, but could not say how long the summer signing from Southampton will be out.
However, an injury of this kind typically requires six weeks of recovery time, meaning the £58million Belgium international is unlikely to make his debut for the club before November.
“(We are) really disappointed because he was training really well last week,” stated Pochettino. “He’s twisted his ankle and now we wait for Monday to hear from the doctor.
“We hope it’s not a big issue. It’s real shame. It’s a sad situation because he was nearly fit to be involved again with the team. We don’t know (time). We need to assess him.”
Neither Armando Broja nor Benoit Badiashile will probably be match to function towards Bournemouth although each are again in full coaching and took half in inside matches in the course of the worldwide break.
Reece James, who went off injured in the course of the season opener towards Liverpool in August, just isn’t match to return however is again working with the ball in coaching.
“Reece is recovering well,” stated Pochettino. “I can’t say if he’s close or not, because we assess him every single day. He’s started doing things on the pitch with the ball. He’s really well, he’s desperate to come again and help the team. I hope that he’s close and can be available before the next international break.”
The supervisor added that Trevoh Chalobah stays in his plans regardless of reviews linking him with a transfer in January.
“Chalobah is in my plan. No one is going to decide for me. The message is that all the players who are going to be here in January or after January, I am going to be involved in the decision.”
