HomeCarabao CupPochettino tells Chelsea players 'most important thing' about EFL Cup semi-final

Pochettino tells Chelsea players ‘most important thing’ about EFL Cup semi-final

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has urged his players to “enjoy” their EFL Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough as they seek their first piece of silverware since 2021.ย 

The Blues come into the two-legged on the back of good form, having won four of their last five matches in all competitions.

But Pochettino‘s side were slow out of the blocks against Preston North end in the FA Cup at the weekend before eventually beating the Championship outfit 4-0.

The Argentine wants his squad to unburden themselves of the pressure of making their first major final in over two years.

โ€œThe most important thing is we need to enjoy the semi-final, not to feel like itโ€™s compulsory for us to be in the final,โ€ he said in his pre-match press conference.

โ€œFootball is not about that. You cannot play if you feel pressure and you donโ€™t feel fresh in your mind.

โ€œIf you feel itโ€™s compulsory (to win), always with some restriction โ€“ you need to take the semi-final as a great opportunity to enjoy playing football, performing well, running, being aggressive, being all together. Not to feel itโ€™s compulsory to go to the final. You start to limit yourself.โ€

After a tough first half to the campaign Pochettino insisted Chelsea are still a process in the works and need time to become a cohesive unit.

He said: โ€œOne of the most important things is to create this chemistry between us (club staff). โ€œWe are maybe 120 people (at the club) seeing us every single day, itโ€™s so important to work well together.

โ€œAnd then the players, they need to trust. Always itโ€™s a process. When there are so many new players on the team, in some ways itโ€™s good, but itโ€™s also about creating a chemistry. That is not easy. We need time.

โ€œWe donโ€™t know if itโ€™s two or three months, or six months or one season. We need to feel the trust, feel the confidence, to care for your team-mate. You are going to be there if something goes wrong.โ€

Read – Dortmund close in on Chelsea and Man Utd transfers

See Also – Chelsea and Man Utd turn to former Spurs target

Subscribe to our social channels:

Facebookย |ย Instagramย |ย Twitterย |ย YouTube

Ste McGovern
Ste McGovernhttps://bsky.app/profile/stemcgovern.bsky.social
Freelance football writer with bylines for The Football Faithful, Manchester Evening News, BirminghamLive, MARCA, Balls.ie and the Nottingham Post.
RELATED ARTICLES
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Most Popular

Related Posts