Former Chelsea forward Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has stressed the need for Mauricio Pochettino to be given time but knows not all of the club’s big-money signings will handle the pressure.
The Blues are without a win after two matches of this season’s Premier League after an encouraging 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool was followed up by Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at West Ham.
Chelsea have spent more than £350million on transfers this summer, which has taken their overall outlay under Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital consortium to nearly £1billion since he completed his takeover at the end of the 2021-22 season.
View this post on InstagramEnzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo and Mykhailo Mudryk are among the club’s biggest buys but while Pochettino insisted in July there is “no patience” in football, Hasselbaink has called for calm.
LiveScore ambassador Hasselbaink told the PA news agency: “Look, it is a project. Chelsea is a project and it will take time.
“You need to give time. They have a lot of players, a lot of talented players but they need to gel and that takes time. It doesn’t matter how much money you throw at it.
“The only way they will learn is by playing and having that pressure. You will see some of them will make it and be able to handle it, but some, as always is the case, they won’t handle the pressure. That is the nature of the beast.
“I do think Chelsea have bought well, really well with a lot of young players and the most important thing now is to trim the squad because there is still a lot of players.
“Then mould it and everyone can get to know each other.”
Hasselbaink reflected on Chelsea’s stuttering start to the season after being put through his paces by youngsters during a session put on by Bloomsbury Football, a grassroots charity who provide weekly football sessions for young people in London.
Bloomsbury Football are set to receive a £5,000 donation from LiveScore, who have launched a Life-changing Goals campaign to mark their 25th anniversary.
LiveScore will donate £25 to charity for every goal scored in the world’s top 25 leagues on the weekend of September 2-3, while goals scored at grassroots level and shared with the global sports media brand on social media will also trigger a donation.
An overall total of £25,000 is set to be donated by LiveScore with £20,000 going to a mental health charity partner.
Chelsea will host Nottingham Forest on September 2, after they entertain Luton this Friday, and Hasselbaink suggested a top-five finish, which should be enough to secure qualification for UEFA’s new-look Champions League format from 2024 given England’s coefficient rating, would be success this season.
“I think to get in the Champions League this year it is the top five isn’t it, so look without getting ahead of everything, it is a project,” Hasselbaink added.
“There are a lot of things that have changed in the last two years at Chelsea. It is not the Chelsea any more that we had, but they are building to that again.
“It is different and what you really want as soon as possible is to get a win behind your belt because from there you try to get momentum, which will get people confidence.
“The Liverpool game showed they can compete with the best but second half against West Ham you can see there are a lot of things to work at.
“It will not change overnight, that is just a fact and everybody in football knows that but I think they have a lot and they are on the right track.
“With all due respect to everyone who was there last year, I think they look a lot better than last year.”
:: To get involved with LiveScore’s Life-changing Goals campaign, head to LiveScore’s official social media channels to find out how you can share your goal with #LiveScore25 and #LifeChangingGoals.
Haaland has 'full trust' in Guardiola to halt Man City slump
Erling Haaland has "full trust" in the "best manager in the world", Pep Guardiola, to get Manchester City back on track against Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday.
Guardiola's side have lost four matches in a row across all competitions, which is the Spaniard's longest losing run in his entire managerial career.
The Citizens last lost more consecutively between March and April 2006 under Stuart Pearce (six – the fifth game of which was also against Tottenham).
But after putting pen to paper on a new two-year contract extension at the club earlier this week, Guardiola has his eyes firmly set on returning to winning ways on home soil.
And Haaland, who has scored 105 goals in 114 appearances under Guardiola at City, believes they can make up the gap to leaders Liverpool, who are five points ahead.
"When you look at what he's been doing for the club, he's not bad, is he? So he's got my full trust," Haaland told Sky Sports.
"And if he tells me something, I'd better do it because he knows the best in the end. Everyone knows that. So I'm sure he will find solutions now as well. I'm sure of that.
"[Guardiola] demands us to be at our best in every training session, in every game. And that's what we need to do. It hasn't been good enough, losing four games now, but let's try to win the next."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Arsenal handed another injury blow as White ruled out for 'months'
Mikel Arteta confirmed that Arsenal defender Ben White is facing "months" on the sidelines after sustaining a knee injury.
White had been dealing with several issues all season and has missed five games in all competitions for the Gunners already this term.
After struggling through until the November international break, the decision was taken for him to undergo surgery in order to finally address the ongoing problems.
It serves as a bitter blow for Arteta, with only Thomas Parety (13) making more interceptions than White (11) for Arsenal in the Premier League this campaign.
Though Arteta confirmed that the surgery was successful, White is set for a lengthy spell out of the team.
"It has been different kinds of struggles. It has never been the same thing, but we had to make a decision. He has not improved over the last few weeks, unfortunately," said Arteta.
"We know that Ben is going to push every boundary, but it got to the point where we have to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery.
"He agreed with that and it is going to keep him out for a few months."
Asked for a specific time frame, Arteta added: "We have to see how he reacts post-surgery. I don't expect it to be half a year, but I cannot tell you exactly."
It offers a concern for Arteta in the full-back area, with the Spaniard also revealing on Friday that Takehiro Tomiyasu is "going to be out as well for a bit".
There was, however, some positive injury news for the Gunners ahead of welcoming Nottingham Forest to the Emirates on Saturday.
After not featuring for England during the international break, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are expected to be fit to feature against Nuno Espirito Santo's side.
Leandro Trossard will also be available for Arteta despite picking up a hamstring injury during the international break with Belgium.
Defender Riccardo Calafiori is also in contention for Saturday's game after a month out with a knee problem.
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