“Look at the way we concede the first goal” – Pochettino reveals who to blame for Chelsea 2-2 draw against Burnley
Mauricio Pochettino was left in no doubt where Chelsea need to improve following our 2-2 draw with Burnley, being left frustrated by how easy we made things for our opponents when we were out of possession, feeling we fell short of the benchmark needed to compete in the Premier League.
Chelsea twice took the lead against Burnley through fine Cole Palmer goals, the first a dinked penalty which also left the Clarets down to 10 men, and the second a calm finish from a lovely Raheem Sterling flick.
However, on both occasions we allowed Burnley to equalise and get back into the game, resulting in a 2-2 draw. Reflecting on the match, Mauricio Pochettino felt it was a case of two points dropped rather than one point earned.
Furthermore, it was clear where he believed the Blues had been lacking at Stamford Bridge this afternoon.
‘We are very disappointed and frustrated in the way that in the second half we didn’t manage to deal with the situation,’ said Pochettino. ‘We are a team that when we play in possession and go forward are capable of creating many chances, but we didn’t score with the chances we created. We need to increase our percentage of goals
‘Today we didn’t show the capacity, the energy, the hunger that is the minimum to compete in the Premier League. In the defensive phase we conceded too much. That is why I am so upset and disappointed.
‘It is about being stronger as a group, stronger to be like a team. For different reasons we are so slow evolving in this area and that was the key today. It is not about finding excuses but the team played well, we had energy when we were going forward, but when we didn’t have the ball we didn’t show the same energy.
‘Today of course I am not happy with the performance when we don’t have the ball. We were capable of creating chances and had the capacity to move and penetrate against a team who played with a block very deep and a very physical team.
‘If we are able to do that, in another phase we need to be strong also and we need to have the capacity to go and recover the ball back. Today we allowed them to run too much.
‘It is difficult to accept not winning the game, because I think it was a must-win game with a chance to be in a different position. We have to accept that, we need to recover from this situation. On Thursday we have another game here and we need to have the energy to be competitive. We need to clear our heads now.’
It was Burnley’s first goal, fired in by Josh Cullen early in the second half, which Pochettino points to as an example of what went wrong…
‘Look at the way we conceded the first goal. They had one player less and they played easy one-touch passes with the midfielder and then we had conceded.
‘The players need to realise that competing is different from playing football. We can be there and play but after we need to increase our level.
‘That’s not to blame the players, it’s to blame everyone, because maybe we need to be tougher with the players when we only have one day to prepare, because they all arrived in different circumstances from their national team.
‘But we need to be more like a team, we need to find better communication, we need to be more competitive.’
Mauricio was further frustrated by the fact he knows his team have done better in those areas in other matches this season…
‘It’s about that they need to realise this. As a team we are missing something, that is why we are where we are.
‘Today it was so clear what we miss. When we don’t have the ball we need to increase our level and increase our capacity to win the ball back and not allow them to travel so easily from one area to another.
‘We missed energy, we missed the capacity to deal with the situation, we missed communication between us. After Wolves the team was celebrating every single tackle and things like this that could increase our competitive level, but today we were not seeing the same energy.
‘We have a clear idea in which way we need to improve. I’m not going to blame anyone, that is just the reality. That is the key and we need to attack what the team needs to improve if we want to be better.’
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