Mauricio Pochettino: Chelsea will qualify for Europe “We have the quality to be there.” football news

[ad_1]

Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino believes the lack of European football this season will help his team but the Blues boss is confident he can get the club back into Europe next season.

After a difficult season, Chelsea, who lifted the Champions League trophy in 2021, are 12th in the Premier League, meaning they will not be involved when European football returns next week.

The Blues – who face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday, live on Sky Sports – currently sit 12th in the table after an up and down start to the new season under Pochettino, with injuries hampering the Argentine manager at the start of his reign. At Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea, who have four points after their first four games, have been plagued by injury problems at the start of the new season, with full-back and captain Reece James, new striker Christopher Nkunku, centre-backs Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile among the regulars. On the sides.

While Pochettino admits that the lack of European football this season is a positive for his side as they battle the long injury list they currently suffer from, he insists they will return to Europe next season with the quality he has in his squad.

“Under the circumstances, I think it’s better for us [not to be in Europe] He said: “We have 11 or 12 players injured. I think it is important now that we can recover and be more competitive.”

He added: “But for Chelsea, it is important to participate in European competition, but this is not in my hands now. This is the reality.”

“For sure, we will participate in European competition next season. There is no doubt about the quality we have.”

Chelsea suffered defeats against West Ham and at home against Nottingham Forest, in a faltering start to the season for Pochettino and his team.

Chelsea team news: Lafia is facing a spell on the sidelines

Mauricio Pochettino also confirmed this in his press conference Romeo Lafia He faces a period of absence from the team after injuring his ankle in training, but he was unable to say how long the player, who was signed in the summer from Southampton, would be out.

However, an injury of this nature typically requires six weeks of recovery time, meaning the £58m Belgian international is unlikely to make his debut for the club before November.

“(We are) really disappointed because he trained well last week,” Pochettino said. “He sprained his ankle and now we have to wait until Monday to hear from the doctor. Hopefully it’s not a big problem. It’s a real shame. It’s a sad situation because he was almost ready to be involved again with the team. We’re not doing that.” I know (time). “We need to evaluate it.”

no Armando Bruja no Benoit Badiashile He will be available to feature against Bournemouth although both returned to full training and took part in domestic matches during the international break.

Reece James, who went off injured during the opening match of the season against Liverpool in August, is not ready to return but has returned to working with the ball in training. “Reece is recovering well,” Pochettino said. “I can’t say whether it’s close or not, because we’re evaluating him every day. He’s starting to do things on the pitch with the ball. He’s in really good shape, and he’s desperate to come back and help the team. Hopefully it’ll be soon.” He could be available before the next international break.”

Pochettino: We did not get the points we deserve

A win over Luton and a draw on day one with Liverpool were the only bright spots for the Blues in the Premier League, but despite the early defeat, Pochettino believes his side performed well.

The team faces Bournemouth on Sunday and is looking to win away from home for only the second time since March.

“The team performed well in the first month,” Pochettino said. “We did not get the points we deserved. The organization was good, the way we want to play. The players believe in the way we want to play.

“If you look at the data, we’re very good in possession, we’re very good in building and building. Only what we’re missing is scoring goals. That’s the most important thing in football. We want to be more competitive. We can’t.” “We are conceding the kind of goals we conceded against Nottingham. We cannot be so weak, we need to be more solid. We have experienced players, players who can do better.

“At the moment, I think I feel bad because we are playing well, showing everyone that we can compete, and we are dominating 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 the word Other, we need to be more naughty and more aggressive.

“They’re not very nice. (They need) to compete better. Raising our level is not about our quality, it’s about the competition. Competing more every moment of the game requires doing something. Because we’re still working on building the team and finding that balance,” It is definitely a matter of time.

“I’m trying to describe why we’re not getting the points we deserve. At some point in the game, you need to show more of that quality, that mental toughness, to have that experience to better deal with certain conditions in the game. Sometimes it’s not about talent.” Just.

“When you see the Forest game in two weeks, the time we spent trying to pinpoint why we lost the game, it’s really difficult. But this isn’t about last season, we can’t blame last season. We need to blame ourselves and find solutions within ourselves. We can’t blame the past, we can’t blame the feeling of last season. Now it’s a new era, everything is new.”

Bush supports Jackson to shine

The player Chelsea brought to Stamford Bridge in the summer to score goals was striker Nicholas Jackson.

The 22-year-old has just one goal to his name so far this season and wasted a glorious late chance in his side’s defeat to Nottingham Forest, but Pochettino, while calling on Jackson to be more clinical, believes it is only a matter of time before the goals start flowing. .

He said: Performance [against Nottingham Forest] He was good, but he didn’t score.

“As a striker, you have to score or create a goal, but we have to believe that Jackson came from Spain, he is young, he needs to build his confidence. He needs to adapt to the Premier League.”

“It’s only a matter of time but he’s doing a great job for the team.

“He needs to be more effective in front of goal but I think it will happen. There is no doubt that he is a great player.”

Why is Pochettino’s faith in Jackson justified?

Nicholas Jackson’s late miss in Chelsea’s defeat to Nottingham Forest attracted ridicule, but his exciting potential was clear.

Read Nick Wright’s feature here

Jones knows: Predictions for the Bournemouth and Chelsea match…

The goals average seems very high in a match between two teams with major attacking problems.

Chelsea can point to the 11 chances they have created this season – no team has created more – as evidence to show that their football is flowing and all it lacks is the finish. But they have flaky finishes. This is the problem, and it will certainly not solve itself, no matter how strong the overall opportunity creation metrics are. I’ll be confident that goals will continue to be a problem while the players up front remain the same.

Since the start of October 2022, Chelsea’s Premier League matches have seen 78 goals, the fewest of any team apart from the three promoted teams, at 2.16 per 90 minutes. In addition, Chelsea have only scored more than once seven times in their last 33 matches in all competitions.

That makes Sky Bet’s 5/4 on this match falling 2.5 below the line very attractive, especially with Bournemouth continuing to struggle to find their identity under Andoni Airola. Only Sheffield United and Burnley have created fewer big chances than the Cherries this season, with none appearing in their home matches with West Ham and Tottenham.

At the time of writing, there have been 51 Premier League matches since the last 0-0 draw. I can’t resist 14/1 with Sky Bet on this break for this race.

Score prediction: 0-0 JONES KNOWS BEST BET: Under 3.5 goals (4/7 with Sky Bet – bet here!)

Watch Bournemouth vs Chelsea live on Sky Sports Premier League from 1pm on Sunday; Kick-off is 2 p.m

Stream Premier League matches on Sky Sports now for just £26 per month for 12 months. Cancel at any time.

[ad_2]

Source link