Soccer

Mauricio Pochettino opens up on struggles with Chelsea's young players

Mauricio Pochettino admits Chelsea are trying to ‘bed-in’ ‘too many young players’ at once… but insists the Blues are making ‘very short steps’ as they attempt to build a stronger squad

  • Chelsea secured their second win of the Premier League season on Monday
  • Mauricio Pochettino wants his young talents to ‘add something’ to the team
  • Click HERE to listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s ‘It’s All Kicking Off’

Mauricio Pochettino admits Chelsea are trying to bed in too many young players at once ‘to a team that is not solid’ but insisted they will come good with time and patience.

Pochettino opened up about some of the difficulties trying to mould his youthful Chelsea squad together after their 2-0 win at neighbours Fulham.

One of the players who has taken his time to settle, £88.5m winger Mykhailo Mudryk, finally opened his Chelsea account with his first competitive goal since joining in January.

Fellow 22 year-old, striker Armando Broja, marked his first start since recovering from a serious knee injury with Chelsea’s second.

Their first-half goals – just 82 seconds apart – earned Chelsea a second successive win after a disappointing start to the season and Pochettino said, when asked about Mudryk in particular: ‘It’s about maturity, adaptation. We need to understand young people need time to settle. Massive change to come here and it’s not easy to settle because, being honest, too many young players arrive to a team that is not solid.

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino (right) admitted it has been hard bedding-in Chelsea’s young players

22-year-old Mykhailo Mudryk (right) scored his first competitive goal for the club in Monday’s win over Fulham

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‘It’s not the cherry of the cake. They need to add something to the team, to add something important.

‘It is to trust these guys, these young talented players. It’s a massive job. A step by step but very short steps. Sometimes people don’t have the patience. For us it’s patience, even when we lose.

Pochettino wants upcoming talents at Stamford Bridge to ‘add something to the team’

‘It’s important to keep calm but also [find] ways to keep improving and trust. Keep building belief and confidence because we need confidence.’

Chelsea picked up a couple more injury concerns at Craven Cottage with Mudryk coming off at half-time and Moises Caicedo being withdrawn late on.

Pochettino added: ‘He [Mudryk] felt something in his quad. ‘Hopefully it’s not a big issue. He didn’t feel comfortable to keep playing. [Caicedo had a] contusion but also hopefully it’s nothing wrong.’

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