Mauricio Pochettino has warned his players there will be “no excuses” - and Chelsea have to be ready to hit the ground running from day one.
Chelsea’s new boss did not shy away from the expectation levels at Stamford Bridge where there is no time or room for another season of transition.
The Blues finished way down in 12th place after a disastrous season and Pochettino knows that the hierarchy are demanding instant results and improvement.
Pochettino begins his reign against Liverpool on August 13 and there are likely to be more ins and outs before then but Chelsea want trophies and to get back into the Champions League.
“Now we need to be competitive in the training ground or we are not going to arrive on time,” said Pochettino. “If you don’t move forward you are dead.
“I don’t want to make excuses to the players to say first of all we need time to rebuild, we need time to work, we need, we need, we need.
“No, no excuses and we start to work hard, to manage and drive the way that we want. No excuses.
“The competition doesn’t wait for anyone and now we are going to start again against Liverpool in the first game to be ready to win, and if not we are going to struggle for sure.
Pochettino’s greatest quality is his charm and he will need plenty of it to fix the Chelsea dressing room which became horribly fractured last season.
But Poch is also a great diplomat and he was so careful to talk as little as possible about former club Tottenham other than to try and stay onside with their fans despite crossing one of London football’s great divides.
Pochettino said: “The feeling is that I am really happy to be here. I would say over the moon because I am back in England. This is a massive challenge.
“What I can say is that I am so proud of my past there. Nobody is going to change the story of when we were there together for nearly six years.
“I don’t believe that the fans will change, I think. But, what can they do? Nothing. For me now it is about being focused on trying to do my job here and build a very good relationship with the fans here.”
Pochettino is also under no illusions that he is now working under a Chelsea ownership headed up by Todd Boehly who have been painted - whether unfairly or not - as madcap owners with a scattergun approach in the transfer market.
They also went into the dressing room towards the end of last season when Boehly described performances as “embarrassing” and Pochettino was keen to draw a line over what an owner can do.
Pochettino added: “Of course, for me, they are more than welcome, if the owner comes to the dressing room, to the training ground.
"For me, I am more than happy if they are close to us, but they are the owners, the players, the fans, the media... it is the coach, the head coach or the manager who decides things, how it's going to work on the dressing room, on the pitch, on the training ground.”
