Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea still can’t do it in the Premier League!

Roman Abramovitch is no longer at the head of Chelsea, however, supporters of the London-based club have been going through a roller coaster since the start of the season. Defeated this Sunday during the 18th day of the Premier League and a perilous trip to Wolverhampton (2-1), the Blues stagnated in a tenth place unworthy of the recent history of the institution. Finally, on closer inspection, this 10th place is far from illogical given the overall record of this team. Indeed, after 18 contested days, the residents of Stamford Bridge have 8 defeats for 6 victories and 4 draws. An almost shameful result for a team which spent billions of euros during the last transfer windows. However, this barely average record justifies this assigned place in the soft underbelly in the ranking.

On the pitch at Molineux Stadium, Raheem Sterling’s teammates were nevertheless insistent and tried things. Like their season, all they needed was a killer in front of goal to achieve their general domination. In this register, the tandem composed of Armando Broja and Nicolas Jackson will have delivered a poor copy which should lead Mauricio Pochettino to no longer renew it, especially given the beautiful entry of Christopher Nkunku. For the first appearance of his career in the Premier League, the French attacking midfielder showed himself enterprising and was rewarded with a goal, his first in the English elite, at the very end of the match (90+6th). A feat which allowed him to enter Chelsea history: the player trained at PSG became the 27th player to score on his Premier League debut with Chelsea and the first to do so as a substitute since Alvaro Morata against Burnley in August 2017.

Mauricio Pochettino relies heavily on Christopher Nkunku

Besides this single ray of sunshine, the afternoon will clearly not have anything to reassure Mauricio Pochettino’s supporters. Having been criticized for several weeks now, the Argentinian technician will quickly have to get things back on track if he wants to spend the winter in London. Questioned after the match, the 51-year-old tactician pointed out his team’s youth and lack of composure in front of the goal: “we are very disappointed because I think we deserve much more. This competition hurts you when you are not precise enough. We created chances. This is why we are so disappointed. We conceded a few corners and it was really difficult. We talked a lot at the start of the season. We are young. It’s a young team. We have players who are playing in the league for the first time. They have to adapt. It’s a question of trust and quality.»

Apologies which should not please several supporters of the London club who criticize the former Tottenham technician for not being able to instill an appropriate style of play in a team that is nevertheless promising. Despite his team’s lack of experience, the Argentine coach should do better while several injured players are now back, like Christopher Nkunku. A providential return as Pochettino confided after the match against Wolves: “I’m very happy to see Nkunku score and it shows how important he can be for us. We can’t put too much pressure on him, he’s been out for a very long time and that’s why he came on after 60 minutes – to help him get back into the swing of things. He’s a quality player who can score goals and we’re happy he did that today, although we’re obviously disappointed we didn’t win the game. Christo needs time to achieve his goals, but we have confidence in him to reach his best level and become a key player for us.» It is now up to Mauricio Pochettino to raise the level of play of his team…