Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino still needs to get rid of “bad influences” in his squad, according to Tim Sherwood. The former Tottenham midfielder and manager says the Blues must continue to ease out the players who are no longer a part of their plans.
Pochettino oversaw a major cull in his first transfer window at Chelsea. Numerous high-profile players left Stamford Bridge at the end of last season.
Kai Havertz and Mason Mount went for big-money moves to Arsenal and Manchester United respectively, while N’Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly all moved to the Saudi Pro League.
Club captain Cesar Azpilicueta returned to Spain, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic both left for AC Milan. Mateo Kovacic, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Callum Hudson-Odoi were among the others to go.
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Owner Todd Boehly spent big again, including splashing out a British record fee of £115million on Moises Caicedo. Chelsea are yet to see their spending reap rewards on the pitch, sitting 11th in the Premier League table after 10 matches.
Sherwood says Chelsea were never going to go straight back to the top, even with their excessive spending. But he believes if Pochettino continues to whittle down his squad, success will soon be around the corner.
Sherwood told William Hill: “You can do it quicker when you have more money but it’s still a gradual process. You can’t just jump straight to the top.
“Pochettino’s biggest problem at the moment is getting rid of players because he still has too many bad influences at the club. He needs to have a tight-knit squad which is something he always wanted when he was at Spurs.
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“He could possibly go out there and buy whoever he wants but what Chelsea won’t do is buy experienced players for huge sums of money, so he is going to have to develop every player. You can see the pattern with the recruitment now, they’re young players who he can mould and he’s fantastic at doing that.
“I still think Pochettino is the right man for the job, but they had a really bad setback in losing to Brentford 2-0 at home last weekend. It is one step forward and two steps back for them at the moment but they need to remain patient.
“Chelsea fans are used to success and they’re used to winning, but their mindset as fans needs to change.”
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