Pochettino praises Madueke and Jackson Perfomance Amidst Chelsea’s Dominant Victory Over West Ham
Mauricio Pochettino praised his ‘intelligent’ Chelsea team for learning from previous mistakes during their thrashing of West Ham.
The Blues scored five goals against David Moyes’ side at Stamford Bridge, but Pochettino was especially pleased with the fourth, which saw Noni Madueke set up teammate Nicolas Jackson for a tap-in.
Madeuke and Jackson got into a heated argument during Chelsea’s 6-0 victory over Everton last month, when both players attempted to take a penalty instead of designated taker Cole Palmer.
Both were heavily criticised for their antics, but Pochettino insisted Sunday’s performance demonstrated his young team’s maturity.
‘The assist from Noni to Jackson demonstrated that we learn and are smart,’ Pochettino said.
‘The penalty situation against Everton drew a lot of criticism, but a young team has to make mistakes in order to improve.
We can improve it because we are smart and intelligent people. I believe Noni’s action today was excellent in observing how the group is beginning to live and how they are beginning to feel connected.
‘This is always a time-consuming process. You never know whether it will take one month, six months, or a year. The most important thing is that they begin to establish the principles, feel, and live as a group of players who are forming all of the links necessary to compete.
‘That is the reality. I am so pleased for that because we [the staff] are part of this process, helping them to grow and be more mature and improve all the aspects.
‘I think that it’s only the first step, massive step but it is a step that we wanted to reach. From there, we can evolve in all the other aspects.
‘Without principles, without things that we start to show in a competitive way, it’s impossible to evolve other aspects.’
Moyes, meanwhile, questioned his players’ mental toughness after conceding five goals in consecutive away matches.
‘It’s happened several times this season, which I’ve certainly not enjoyed,’ Moyes
‘Players not in their positions, running out of position, opening up too easily.
‘We were lacking toughness, leadership, mental toughness. We’ve now had two away games where we’ve conceded five.
‘The manager will always take the responsibility because that’s what you do in this job, you have to prepare them and get them right, setting them up.
‘Somewhere along the line the players have to take responsibility for doing their jobs, being hard to play against, being aggressive and competitive. I question if we were all that in the first-half.’
Pochettino praises Madueke and Jackson Perfomance Amidst Chelsea’s Dominant Victory Over West Ham
