Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea’s owners must look past their disappointment and back him to implement the plan he was hired to draw up in order to lift the club out of their slump.
Defeat to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Sunday means the team have taken an average of 0.85 points per game over the last 35 matches, three short of a full league season.
Over a single campaign they would have won 32 points, a tally that would have seen them relegated in every Premier League season since the league became 38 games in 1995, and would have left them bottom of the table in five of them.
That run goes back to October 19 last year when the team, then managed by Graham Potter, drew 0-0 away at Brentford.
Pochettino is the fourth manager to have led the side in that period, with Potter having been removed on April 2 and Frank Lampard taking over until the end of the campaign, with a single game in charge for caretaker boss Bruno Saltor.
Despite the turnover of coaches, the Blues have won only six times in the league in the 11 months since, drawing 12, giving them a return of 30 points from 35 games.
The squad assembled by co-owner Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital consortium at a cost of more than £1billion over the last 16 months are currently 14th in the table after six games and have not scored in 285 minutes of play.
Pochettino encouraged supporters to keep faith and focus on the quality of recent performances rather than the club’s relegation form over the last year.
“It’s about learning, it’s about the process,” he said after Ollie Watkins’ second-half goal for Villa condemned his side to their third loss of the season.
“We are a young team (in) a process that they need to learn all together. It’s difficult to talk about positives because when you lose it’s difficult, but we need to talk about positive things.
“No doubt that with time the team is going to perform, but of course now we cannot hide the situation. It’s a situation that disappoints all the fans, the club, us and the players.
“They (the owners) are disappointed, they arrive to the club and (were) so excited to build some project. Of course they feel disappointed, but at the same time they need to support the plan.”
If there was a bright spot for Chelsea it was the return of striker Armando Broja after nine months out with an ACL injury.
The Albania international came off the bench in the second half and headed wide in the closing minutes as the team sought an equaliser.
“It was good to see Broja after nine, 10 months,” said Pochettino. “Again I think to have the possibility to have different options is good for the team. But he needs to build his confidence also.”
Watkins’ goal was his first in the league this season and the striker admitted it was a weight off his shoulders.
“The first one is always hard to get,” Watkins told VillaTV.
“I’m delighted to get off the mark now.
“It’s a bit of a relief, really, because the more the games go by, there’s a lot of talk and pressure.
“But I just try and block that out and I back myself in front of goal no matter what anyone says.
“I’m looking forward to the games coming up now and plenty more goals for the season.”
Dom Rep secure Group C honours in League B; St Vincent and the Grenadines end on high with victory over Barbados
Dominican Republic defeated Bermuda 2-0 to not only end the Concacaf Women's Gold Cup qualifiers on a high, but also cop Group C honours in League B, on Tuesday.
Following the top-of-the-table clash, Dominican Republic ended with 15 points and secured a playoff berth ahead of their Bermudan counterparts, who ended on 13 points. Meanwhile, St Vincent and the Grenadines register a consolation victory of the campaign against Barbados.
St Vincent and the Grenadines vs. Barbados
St Vincent and the Grenadines topped Barbados 4-2 in a lively contest at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
Ashante Browne scored the first goal for the Lady Heat in the 12th when she pushed a pass over the top past goalkeeper Rhea Holder.
Shanice Stevenson equalized in the 74th when she pounced on a loose ball inside the box with a curling effort into the left netting.
St Vincent regained the lead through an 82nd-minute Samayaa Connell effort, as she rounded defenders and fired home from close range that left Holder flat-footed.
Jessicia Miller extended the advantage for the Lady Heat in the 84th when she connected with Asanteni Charles's weighted free kick.
Charles widened the gap with a goal of her own in the 89th by converting from the penalty spot.
Barbados eventually pulled another back courtesy of Altica Benn's own goal in the 90+3.
Dominican Republic vs. Bermuda
Dominican Republic proved too good for Bermuda on home soil at the Panamericano Stadium in San Cristobal.
Alyssa Oviedo broke free and opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a powerful shot that bounced off the left upright on its way in.
At the half-hour mark, Kathrynn Gonzalez had shot on frame, but her free kick attempt was denied by Bermuda's goalkeeper Zakhari Turner.
Lucia Marte was denied in the 44th, after she picked up the ball off a missed header and released a powerful attempt that was punched clear by Turner.
Mia Asenjo was also denied in the 47th, as Turner was alert for the save early in the second half.
But Asenjo broke through in the 86th with a powerful hit to the left netting to secure the three points.
Eddie Howe backs ‘brilliant shot-stopper’ Martin Dubravka to replace Nick Pope
Eddie Howe has backed Martin Dubravka to plug the sizeable gap left by Nick Pope as Newcastle’s first-choice goalkeeper faces up to four months on the sidelines.
Magpies head coach Howe’s worst fears over the shoulder injury which Pope suffered during Saturday night’s 1-0 Premier League win over Manchester United have been confirmed, with the 31-year-old due to undergo surgery which will sideline him for four months and leave him in a race against time to make England’s Euro 2024 squad.
However, the £10million man’s misfortune – he dislocated his left shoulder as he dived in an attempt to save a Sergio Reguilon shot – will open the door for his deputies Dubravka, Loris Karius and Mark Gillespie with the Slovakia international, who came off the bench at the weekend, the man first in line to replace him starting at Everton on Thursday evening.
Howe said: “We really believe in Martin and I’ve always had that high opinion of him.
“Yes, we brought in Nick – we wanted to build competition for places, we wanted to build a squad that we felt could really carry us to great success – but Martin is a high-class goalkeeper.
“He’s a brilliant shot-stopper himself, he’s very good with his feet and his distribution, so no hesitation about bringing Martin into the team and I hope he does really well.”
Newcastle have been linked with a move for former Manchester United keeper David de Gea in recent days, but Howe insisted no approaches have been made.
View this post on InstagramHe said: “We have not made any inquiries or any decisions about our recruitment leading into January.“This is a chance for the goalkeepers we have at the football club to consolidate their positions, and that will be the same for every other position at the club.”
Howe had earlier confirmed that Pope is awaiting a final decision on the way forward, but that surgery was inevitable.
He said: “We anticipate he’ll be operated on – there’s no doubt he needs an operation – so he will be out for a period of time.
“The operation hasn’t happened yet, but we’re thinking roughly around four months, so it’s a big blow to us, but one that we expected after the game.
“He’s naturally down because at this stage of the season where we have so many games, huge games coming up – he’s got, obviously, the Euros ahead of him as well, which he was determined to try to be involved in, and there’s still chance of that for him.
“But I think his main determination is to come back for us, and you never know what situation we’ll be in at that stage of the season, so it could be a lot worse for him.”
Gary O’Neil hails ‘very impressive’ Wolves match-winner Hwang Hee-chan
Gary O’Neil hailed match-winner Hwang Hee-chan after Wolves edged out Burnley.
The striker’s first-half goal – his ninth of the season – condemned the Clarets to a 1-0 defeat at Molineux on Tuesday evening.
Wolves moved 11 points clear of the Premier League’s relegation zone with South Korea international Hwang earning praise from the boss.
“The numbers are incredibly impressive,” Boss O’Neil said. “Everything about him is impressive, will he continue at this rate for the rest of the season? I hope so. If the team can keep performing.
“When the ball falls to him in the penalty area I have a really good feeling he will be in the right area.
“It’s no fluke he has as many goals as he has, he’s bought in fully to what we’re trying to do. He arrives in good areas time and time again.
“It was a massive win for us. They are a good side, maybe it’s disrespectful to say ‘job done’ because they won the Championship by a long way last season, were the sixth or seventh biggest spenders in the summer. They have every right to be competitive, I’m really pleased as it’s a big win.”
Pablo Sarabia twice went close before Dan Bentley saved from Sander Berge and Josh Brownhill.
But Burnley shot themselves in the foot three minutes before the break to gift Wolves a winner.
James Trafford and Dara O’Shea played out of the back to find Berge, but the midfielder’s heavy touch allowed Sarabia to steal in and find Matheus Cunha.
He then picked out the unmarked Hwang who beat Trafford with a low finish for his ninth goal of the season.
From then Burnley struggled to create, with Bentley never troubled, as Wolves earned a first clean sheet since August and are now five unbeaten at home.
Burnley remain in the drop zone after a 12th defeat in 15 games and are three points from the safety line having beaten Sheffield United 5-0 on Saturday, but failed to follow it up.
Boss Vincent Kompany said: “It’s decided in moments, we had ours, didn’t take them and in one of the few chances we conceded, we concede a goal.
“I looked at it quickly but we’ll have to do an analysis. If something went wrong it wasn’t just decided by this one moment, we can look at ourselves and say we should have scored.
“We have been in games for quite some time now, we have to believe this will give us the results.
“We play against teams with quality, we have to stay in positions where we can get results and today was close. This is where we need to step it up.”
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