“Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that several young players at Chelsea are finding it difficult to cope with the pressure. He made the statement on a day when he held a team bonding barbecue on the training pitch as part of an ongoing effort to improve the chemistry and bonding of the team.”
The manager, who is preparing for Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final away at home to Leicester, has made an incredible turnover of players since his arrival last summer. For example, only three players – Reece James, Thiago Silva and Ben Chilwell – remain from the team that lost the 2021 FA Cup final.
Pochettino made it clear that Cole Palmer, who joined as part of an influx last summer, is the exception, and spoke of the quality of the central midfielder, but “the most important thing is how he copes with the pressure”. Elsewhere, it was a different story.
“When you ask me about Cole Palmer, not all players have the same process to settle in a club or to prove themselves,” Pochettino said. “We are in a process that the main group, the main young players … of course, find it a little bit difficult to cope with the pressure of playing for a Cheap Chelsea Football Jerseys.
“We are aware of this and are focused on trying to help them in all areas. It’s not just about helping them in two hours of training. We spend a lot of time talking to [them] and also talking to the people who work around these guys. If we can help them in all the different areas in their lives, then I think [it’s] the easiest thing to help them with their performances on the pitch.”
Pochettino has repeatedly stressed that time and patience are needed, but they are not unlimited, as his team in the Cheap Premier League Kids Football Kit ranks 11th. But things like the barbecue that took place on Friday after training at lunchtime are an attempt to create a family atmosphere, to connect the players with the wider staff at the club.
“The most important thing is that the players understand what it means to be a Chelsea player and to share with people you sometimes don’t see – from the office,” Pochettino said. “For sure we won’t score goals because we had a barbecue. But it’s about communication and feeling better; like it’s not just a training ground where you come to work, it’s home.”
Pochettino said there were 120-130 people at the barbecue and that he was not responsible for the food. “That is the responsibility of the nutritionists,” he said with a smile. “We drink water, orange juice. We should not drink alcohol or eat too much fat. We eat protein, green salad. No fries!”
Given the league position and the defeat against Cheap Liverpool Football Jerseys for kids in the Carabao Cup final, the FA Cup is a particular highlight for Pochettino. It has been a relentlessly busy season, constantly volatile, and Pochettino seemed to have caught the mood as he contemplated what success might look like at the end of it.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s always a strange year to judge what it means to be successful. It’s hard. Sometimes the expectations are so high and sometimes they are so low. It depends on the mood of the day. You know, like in England – sometimes it rains, sometimes it’s sunny.”
Chelsea’s decision to sign place-getters coach Bernardo Cueva from Brentford is also part of the fast-changing mix; he will join in the summer. Pochettino had previously said the club already had experts in that department, while on Friday he spoke of the new reinforcement as a “global” or club-wide role, “to strengthen an area that is already established here … to challenge the people who are here, we are very supportive of that.”
Cueva has been a presence on the Brentford bench – he was shown a yellow card in the win at Chelsea last October – and Pochettino was asked if he would like to have him around for games.
“Of course I am the head coach and I will decide whether some people will be with me or not, whether I will add more people on the pitch or not,” he replied. “The most important thing is to get stronger and to get better. We are always open for improvement.”
“Pochettino will bring Chilwell back from injury, which brings good news for Gareth Southgate as well. The England selector is counting on Chilwell as the only recognisable left-back for the upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.”
