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7 months ago
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Mauricio Pochettino says his team did not ‘behave like Chelsea’ in their disappointing home draw with Burnley as the manager was critical of their lack of running, saying: ‘We cannot be an exhibition team to play football to enjoy. We need to compete.’
A table for distance covered by Premier League clubs this season shows Chelsea bottom on 3,042km, albeit they have played at least one game fewer than every other side. Sheffield United (3,202km) and Aston Villa (3,213km) make up the bottom three.
Chelsea let two leads slip against the 10 men of Burnley at Stamford Bridge as they missed out on moving into the top half of the table. Ahead of facing Manchester United on Thursday, Pochettino said: ‘We are Chelsea but we need to behave like Chelsea.
‘It's not an excuse to be young. 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.’
Mauricio Pochettino criticised a lack of running from his side in their draw against Burnley
Pochettino said his Chelsea side cannot be an exhibition team and must learn to compete
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
Pochettino was unable to confirm whether Christopher Nkunku will feature again this season
Continuing on what was missing, Pochettino said: ‘We need to behave different, to be focused, concentrated, more aggressive, not hide behind the opponent, ask for the ball.
'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.’
Meanwhile, Chelsea have now started advertising for a new role in their backroom staff – a ‘physical performance coach’ to lead in the ‘monitoring and recovery’ of the players as well as helping create programmes for ‘physical resiliency, athletic development and reducing injury risk’.
Chelsea want to make sure they are completely across the ‘other 22 hours’ – the time when their stars are living their lives away from the training ground that is seen as crucial to them staying healthy.
Given the injuries which have plagued their season, Chelsea need all the help they can get, with Pochettino unable to confirm on Wednesday whether Christopher Nkunku will feature before the end of this season.
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