‘They narrowly escaped,if not for late cheap goals I could have end their winning streak’: Chelsea Manager Pochettino fires back at Arsenal fans for calling Him a baby coach
Does that feel like two points dropped?
Yes because I feel until 77 minutes when we conceded the first goal, I think we were in control and didn’t concede many chances. I think Arsenal are an amazing team, they were fighting last season for the trophy and I think this season improved with some players also. Yes, disappointed because we dropped two points.
What do you put it down to? Lack of conentration, a mistake from Sanchez?
i think it can happen, this type of situation and you have to accept it. Today, we are in an era of football that the way we want to play from the back and now we cannot say he was, oh, we can be tough. But that is football, this is the situation. Of course, mistakes can happen in football. We make mistakes, a lot of mistakes and when the players are on the pitch they are allowed to. I think we give the possibility to make a mistake of course.
Unlucky, because I think it was 77 minutes, 2-0, and this goal gave the belief to Arsenal, and 2-1 with 10 minutes to play, 13 minutes to play when you can concede and take risks like they were taking. In the end disappointed.
At the same time, I am so happy because we were very competitive, with all the circumstances we need to feel about the performance and how we played.
Good performance from Mudryk, did he run out of gas?
No, I think he is playing well but also he needs to improve still. For me he is not at his best. I think we needed to change and to put a bit more of pressure on Nicolas Jackson up front. After that situation, we created a few chances and I think the game was closer to 3-0 than 2-1. I think the chances, Palmer and Nico. I think we want to keep a little pressure and not only say okay, we are going to protect the result. But in the end, when we change with Reece and Noni, two minutes before that we concede a goal. It was a little bit unlucky that is the type of situation that happens in football and we feel sad but in another way we are very positive because we showed great character and personality and the team performance was really good.
You’ve spoken about the young signings before, is this what you get?
It happens in all of the teams. Too many games that we watch every week and always mistakes. Football is about mistakes. If you want to score, the opponent made a mistake. I think 90% of goals are because the opponent made a mistake when you score. Football is about mistakes. I think only we can criticise a little to read the situation better, the tempo, the timing. 77 minutes, sometimes take some risk. Okay, we can, because it’s our philosophy but maybe have better decisions. Maybe we can criticise a little bit this situation.
You mean that you could go long?
Yes exactly, to find some different options to play but it’s not to blame someone, it’s only that in these type of situations you may need to be better. Let’s see what is going to arrive with time, all the winning teams always manage and drive the games where you want and read situations when you need to be calm, when to play, when to take risks. These things will arrive with time. We are still a really young team and we know each other and still not all of the squad are ready to compete for their place. We are in good momentum, we need to keep this momentum after three victories before the international break. I think we need to keep going, we really believe we can do something good in the future.
Pleased with Marc Cucurella’s performance and would like to keep him?
It’s a natural process. It was so clear when we arrived here three months ago that some players were in a position where they maybe stay or maybe go. I didn’t know the past, I can only choose the players that we believe can perform. Marc and the club decide to stay in the last transfer window. He is training well, that is why he playing like today, against a very good player like Saka, That is him, he deserves the credit because in the last few months he has worked hard and was able to play on the right side, yes, in this way, only what can happen is the team will be better.
You changed the shape of the team, Gallagher played further forwards, was that to do with not having a fit centre-forward or to stop them playing through Jorginho?
