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7 months ago
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Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has criticised his side for not running enough in the wake of Saturday's thoroughly underwhelming draw with 10-man Burnley.
The 2-2 result at Stamford Bridge was the latest disappointment in a campaign which has seen Chelsea fans turn on the club's manager and ownership.
Speaking ahead of Thursday night's game with Manchester United, Pochettino said: 'We need to defend our badge and play for our club and we need to perform.
'It's up to us to start the game in a different way to against Burnley. We need to play better, to show more energy, that we can compete more as a team.
'We need to behave different, to be focused, concentrated, more aggressive, not hide behind the opponent, ask for the ball.
Mauricio Pochettino has told his Chelsea players to run more in the wake of Saturday's disappointing 2-2 draw at home to Burnley
The Argentine said Chelsea cannot be 'an exhibition team' and must learn to compete more
Chelsea are bottom of the Premier League for distance run this season, albeit they have played at least one game fewer than every other side. But the Blues are fourth-bottom in the per game running average ranking. Stats courtesy of Opta
'The team that want to win and want to be important - it's not only to play well with the ball. We cannot be an exhibition team to play football to enjoy. We need to compete.
'That's why I was disappointed after the Burnley game because we were good with the ball but we need to run, we need to work without the ball.'
The Argentine has a point. His Chelsea side currently rank bottom of Opta's listing when it comes to the total distance covered by teams in this season's Premier League.
However, Chelsea's total of 3,042km is misleading because they've played at least one game fewer than the other 19 teams.
A more accurate reflection comes from the average kilometres covered per game.
In this ranking, however, Chelsea are fourth-bottom with 108.6km ran per game and so it still doesn't make for the greatest reading.
What's most surprising is that Champions League-chasing Aston Villa come bottom of this ranking, with just 107.1 km covered on average per 90.
Nottingham Forest are second-bottom on 108.4km and Crystal Palace third-bottom with 108.5km. Thursday's opponents Man United come 12th on 111.2km.
Despite currently sitting fourth in the table with the Champions League beckoning, Aston Villa sit bottom of the ranking for average distance covered per game
Tottenham, who are fighting with Villa for fourth, compare far more favourably for running
Manchester United rank 12th with their players covering on average 111.2km per match
Arsenal and Man City, who played out a goalless draw on Sunday, rank highly for running stats
Burnley have covered the most ground in the Premier League but they remain in trouble
Burnley are the Premier League's most energetic side, topping both rankings despite their lowly status this season.
The Clarets, who snatched a point from Chelsea on Saturday despite playing 50 minutes with 10 men, have covered 3,610.1km in total or 116.5km per match.
That's some way ahead of Brighton and Everton in joint-second with 114.5km apiece.
Title-chasing Arsenal (113.8km) come in fourth with rivals Manchester City (113.7km) fifth. Despite their reputation for being heavy pressers, Liverpool (111.7km) are only ninth.
Pochettino will hope his Chelsea side cover a bit more ground and make up a bit more ground when they host United on Thursday evening.
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