|
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has said he will be "cautious" with his words when dealing with the media so as to put out a different message to his young squad. After Chelsea's disappointing 2-2 draw with Sheffield United last Sunday, Pochettino had lamented his side's immaturity and their inability to compete every three days at this stage of their development. - Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.) The West London side, who have conceded 11 goals in their last five league games, are 9th in the table and are at risk of missing European football for a second successive season. With an average age of 24 years and 280 days, Chelsea have the second youngest team in the league and Pochettino believes a more positive style of messaging will extract the best performances from them. "It's true that it's a special season for us because we are suffering a lot. People [are] waiting for me to talk in the press conference because they know they are going to talk about that. We need to accept the reality and be positive with the players we have," he said in a news conference on Friday. "Yes, we need to accept the situation and be positive. If something happens, we need to take the positives, having the possibility to train with the young guys from the academy. "Also, I think I need to be more cautious about my words after the game. It is a fact we have a young squad, but also I need to put out a different message. The message is to try and improve. We are working very hard to do so. "We need to accept that is the reality. Sometimes I need to be more positive because we have a really good squad -- that is the reality." Meanwhile, Pochettino confirmed that Ben Chilwell, who picked up an injury in last month's draw with Brentford, has returned to training and provided an update on Axel Disasi and Enzo Fernández's fitness status ahead of Monday's clash with Everton. "They [Disasi and Fernández] are under assessment. They have different types of issues. We don't believe they are big issues but we will see if they can be available. At the moment, they have not trained after Sheffield and that is why we don't know," he said.
|
