Mauricio Pochettino has argued that Tottenham and Southampton were in worse shape when he arrived than Chelsea is now.
The Argentine boss has had a difficult start to life at Stamford Bridge, with the club winning only one of their first six games. This is not only their poorest start to a top-flight season in 45 years, but they have also failed to score in their last three games, complicated matters even further.
Despite admitting that there is an issue in attack, Pochettino insists that this team is doing “much better” than in his past management tenure at Southampton or Tottenham.
“All we are missing is scoring goals. If you see our first few months at Southampton or Tottenham, I think we are playing much better,” he told reporters. “We are doing much better here, but we are missing the most important thing in football, scoring. It is not harder than the previous experiences.”
Pochettino claimed that he was thrown into the thick of the Chelsea project since directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stuart had already mapped out their summer transfer plans before he arrived. In Tottenham, he was in control of business alongside chairman Daniel Levy, which allowed him to handpick his favorites.
“Here, the plan was already made, and we arrived here and we tried to develop this project. We decided the plan with the club at Tottenham,” he stated.
“When I arrived here, the plan had already started to work and now I am part of the plan. Everyone can talk about that the plan is not right, but I really believe in the project – it’s only about time. We only need time to change that perception,” he added.
Chelsea will look to turn their fortunes around when they meet Brighton in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday evening.
