Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has made it clear that his players need to grow up if they are to start delivering the results expected at Stamford Bridge.
The Argentine is struggling at Chelsea, just as his predecessors Graham Potter and interim manager Frank Lampard did under this ownership, with the Blues badly struggling since Todd Boehly bought the club from Roman Abramovich, drastically transforming the way the club does business.
Chelsea fans have often been told to be patient as this young squad develops, but Pochettino now also seems to be clear that things need to improve.
Still, the former Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham manager also acknowledged that part of ‘growing up’ will be something that takes time, though he did also stress that the players are the ones who need to take responsibility, rather than pointing fingers at referees, VAR, or anyone else.
Speaking after his side’s latest bad result, a 1-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa, Pochettino was quoted by Sky Sports as saying: “We need to grow up as a team, not only in an individual way. A player like Nicolas is so young and is feeling his way into the Premier League and learning.
“He needs time, and in this type of game we are competing and want to win. But the players, when they are young, need to learn with experience and when they make a mistake.
“That is why we feel disappointed because we are paying too many situations like this. Things like this is another small detail and, in the end, we are losing the game. We are in a situation we need to change as soon as possible.
“It is the players’ responsibility. We cannot blame the VAR or the referee. In this situation, we need to act different in a different way. I’m not going to blame or say anything against Malo Gusto because, sometimes, some situations happen in football. This type of situation affected the game and the team in a negative way.
“It’s about learning, it is all a process. We are a young team that is in a process, they need to learn altogether. It’s difficult to talk about positives when you lose but I think we need to talk about positive things.
“No doubt in time, the team is going to perform, but we cannot hide the situation that disappoints all of the fans, the club as well as us and the players.”