Aston Villa vs Chelsea: Mauricio Pochettino does not want to lose focus amidst recent setbacks
It is understandably a frustrating time to be a Chelsea supporter. The Blues are once again enduring a below-par campaign, something that has taken many by surprise. A lot of changes happened last summer at Stamford Bridge following the disappointing 2022-23 season, including the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino as their manager. However, the changes seemed to have made little impact, with the Blues still struggling to make a mark in the division.
Chelsea are not even in the top half of the Premier League table and will find it extremely difficult to also secure a top-seven finish this season. They now have an FA Cup assignment, having to play Aston Villa in a replay after the reverse match finished goalless. The form of the Blues has changed a lot since that 0-0 draw. Chelsea will be heading into this clash on the back of successive defeats – 4-1 loss at Liverpool and 4-2 defeat at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
We need to keep going: Mauricio Pochettino
Despite the difficult run of results, Mauricio Pochettino does not want his side to lose their focus. “I was very disappointed because the way that we lost the game, the way that we performed, wasn’t the plan or the way that we wanted to compete. We need to keep going because we cannot lose the focus only because of two defeats, when 10 days before we were saying after Aston Villa we deserved to win and were competing really well,” Pochettino, quoted on the club’s website, said.
He added: “So of course we are disappointed but knowing that in football this type of thing happens, and more in a club like Chelsea now where we are doing things that are different to the past. To be consistent is the most difficult thing now. In this type of moment – living in a situation that is not nice – we can learn. It’s a good opportunity to lean. I told the players today in the meeting, I trust in them more than ever, and I’m going to support them more than ever. I need to reflect in every single action my trust and we really trust the players that we have. We are going to face this moment knowing we can bounce back and start to win games.”
Pochettino also stated that heading into this game, Aston Villa will have an additional day to prepare compared to his side. “It’s true that we played well in the game here at Stamford Bridge. After that, there have been different circumstances – and we will have one day fewer to prepare the game, as they played on Saturday and we played on Sunday. So, the circumstances we arrive to the game in are completely different, but that is football,” he explained.
The manager added: “We cannot change the past, only we can affect the future. We have talked to the players today about being ready to compete tomorrow. We are going to pay attention to situations that happened in the last two games for them and for us. We need to improve and we will assess our players. Tomorrow I will decide the team because it’s important to assess how the players are recovering and, normally, we will do some changes tomorrow.”
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