Mauricio Pochettino has said that Mykhailo Mudryk finally not losing to him at crossbar challenge is proof the £88.5m winger is becoming more confident after a difficult start to his Chelsea career.
Chelsea, who desperately need a win when they host Brighton in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday night, are in a challenging situation after adopting the strategy of spending big on young players. They have suffered from a lack of ruthlessness in attack, with five goals in their first six league games, and Pochettino made his inexperienced side do shooting practice at the end of training on Tuesday.
Pochettino, who insisted better finishing would lead to improved results, is known for his man-management and is using every trick in his efforts to revive Chelsea. He is paying extra attention to Mudryk, who is emblematic of the chaos surrounding the club. The 22-year-old is yet to score since joining on an eight-and-a-half-year deal in January and Pochettino kept the Ukraine international behind once the shooting drills were over.
“The problem with confidence is we cannot buy it in the supermarket,” Chelsea’s head coach said. “It is about time. You know how it works in the brain. It is about little by little creating situations that can provide the trust and the confidence and the belief.
“One example: today, with Mudryk, I like to play hitting the crossbar from outside the box. He said to me today: ‘No, I’m not going to play any more with you because always you win.’ I said: ‘Yes, because I have the belief – the balance between belief and quality I know very well because I am 50 years old and you are still young.’ Today was the first time that we draw.
“Now you start to believe in yourself, you start to believe in your quality because, if not, it is not good balance in between belief and quality. It is difficult. You work on the psychology of the player and provide the players with the confidence to touch the ball and score. It’s a small example.”
Further proof of Chelsea’s naivety came when Nicolas Jackson got himself banned for the trip to Fulham on Monday after receiving his fifth booking of the season during the defeat by Aston Villa last Sunday. None of the striker’s yellow cards have been for fouls and Pochettino, who told Jackson to wise up before facing Villa, has again spoken to the 22-year-old about his behaviour.
“We talk every day with him,” he said. “It is about learning. He needs to learn not only in this but in other areas. We are going to see if he is clever enough to adapt and accept advice, and also to learn from mistakes.”
Pochettino, whose side are 14th in the Premier League, revealed there was in-house punishment for Jackson after he was booked for impeding a Villa free-kick. “Not in the way you maybe think,” he said. “It’s not money. But in a different way, of course.”
Pochettino said he did not mind the club’s co-owners, Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, entering the dressing room after home games. Eghbali and the sporting directors, Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, made their way down from the directors’ box after the disappointment against Villa but Pochettino said his one condition was that board members do not deliver speeches to his squad.
“I like when the owners come,” he said. “The way in which they approach the players is most important. If they are in a good way and the correct way, they are very welcome. It’s good if they share with us and can say hello to the players. If they came for a speech, that is different. In the way they came, they are very welcome. They own the club, I think they can do what they want.”
