LONDON – Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino said it is unfair to make judgments on his disappointing debut season with the London club due to the Blues’ injury problems.
He could be without 11 first team players for the visit of Everton on April 15 as they aim to make a late push to qualify for European football next season.
Chelsea are ninth in the English Premier League but have at least two games in hand over their nearest rivals.
Even a return to Europe next season in the Europa League or Europa Conference League is scant return for over £1 billion (S$1.69 billion) invested by the club’s owners over the past two years on new players.
Pochettino criticised his young squad for not being “mature enough” after they threw away two points at bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United on April 7 by conceding a stoppage-time equaliser.
But the Argentinian admitted he has to strike a more positive tone and accept the “reality” of the situation he is dealing with.
“It is true that it is a special season for us because we are suffering (a lot of injuries) at the moment,” the 52-year-old said in his pre-match press conference on April 12.
“At the moment it is not fair to judge players. It’s very tough when you don’t have the squad fit, we want to increase the competition between them, but that’s not an excuse.
“We need to be more positive and we need to accept that is the reality.
“Sometimes I need to be more positive because we have a really good squad and we need to work to support them.”
Axel Disasi and Enzo Fernandez are the latest players to join Pochettino’s injury list, while Raheem Sterling and Robert Sanchez could miss out against Everton through illness.
The Blues face a huge challenge to avoid breaching Premier League sustainability rules after incurring an £89.8 million loss for the 2022-23 season.
The Blues’ wage bill soared to over £400 million last season, while they splashed out £745 million on transfer fees.
Chelsea are likely to have to raise significant sums from selling players before the end of June to avoid falling foul of the league’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
Premier League clubs are allowed to lose a maximum of £105 million across a three-year assessment period. Chelsea suffered a £121 million loss in the 2021-22 season.
Everton have been deducted eight points on two separate charges and Nottingham Forest docked four points for PSR breaches this season.
In the wake of their latest points deduction on April 8, Everton manager Sean Dyche said: “Chelsea is our restart.
“We’re reacting to the news, that’s important but it has to be a positive reaction, get on the front foot and react to the challenge in front of us. We did that last time, we changed the story.” AFP
