It is not looking good for Chelsea and Mauricio Pochettino at the moment and the manager has come out to state that the team’s finishing needs some work.
The Argentine tactician was speaking after Chelsea’s 0 – 0 draw with AFC Bournemouth on week five of the 2023/24 Premier League season.
The game, which was not devoid of chances from either team, was the first goalless draw in the league this season. It came after 46 games, which is a record for the Premier League. While both teams shared the spoils, it is not a record that either team wants to be associated with. Moreso for Chelsea, whose transfer spend under the Todd Boehly regime has crossed a billion in several currencies.
The game against Bournemouth at the Vitality stadium saw the Blues struggle in front of goal and Pochettino bemoaned the state of his side’s finishing after the game, as reported on Chelsea’s o official website.
“I think again we need to complete the chances that we create,” he said.”’In the first 20 or 25 minutes we deserved to score but we did not score. At the end the game was open, in the last 15 or 20 minutes I think we wanted to win, sometimes we started to disorganise our line because the full-back was so high, which gave Bournemouth the possibility to make some counter-attacks against us in some transitions.
“We need to be more relaxed. Sometimes the defensive players want to help because the feeling is we are creating chances but do not score. Then we need to be clever but many of the players are still learning about the game. That happens when you are building a new team with many areas we need to improve.
‘In these type of games when you are pushing and pushing trying to score and you cannot score, it is normal. But if you cannot win, you cannot lose the game. We are disappointed with the result because we wanted to win but of course we know the circumstances in the game. We deserved more but we didn’t get what we deserved.”
Pochettino will have a week to rectify the issues his team is facing in front of goal, especially with regard to Ukrainian forward Mykhailo Mudryk and Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson.
Both players have a high ceiling but have been unable to make any significant impact in front of goal for the club. They both have one goal each, but it is even more dire for Mudryk as he has been in the team for longer than Jackson has.
Pochettino defended the 22-year-old, saying he still needs time to adapt to the Premier League style of football but Chelsea fans are already losing their patience with the player who cost £88.5 million to sign.
Chelsea face Aston Villa in their next Premier League challenge and many believe that Pochettino could face the music if he fails to deliver any positive result from the game.
