05 November 2023 , 11:09
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Mauricio Pochettino is finding it "tougher" managing Chelsea than he did Tottenham as it is "harder to find a way to perform" with such a young team.
Chelsea currently sit 12th in the Premier League after 10 games, having picked up just three wins over Burnley, Fulham and Luton. The Blues do have one of the youngest squads in the league, with just two players over the age of 25 featuring in their last game against Brentford, having invested heavily in the likes of Moises Caicedo, Nicolas Jackson, Romeo Lavia and Cole Palmer over the summer.
And Pochettino believes there is too much "pressure on the young guys to perform right away" for Chelsea. Speaking ahead of his return to former club Tottenham, who currently sit top of the league under Ange Postecoglou, Pochettino was asked if his start to life at Chelsea mirrors the beginning of his stint at Spurs.
Pochettino took charge of Tottenham in 2014 and endured a disappointing start to his tenure, before guiding Spurs to four consecutive top four finishes and the 2019 Champions League final. "Again, it is difficult to compare because when we arrived it was a year before that [Luka] Modric and [Gareth] Bale left," he said.
"They spent a lot of money signing players [to replace them] and then started a young project with Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Ryan Mason, Nabil Bentaleb and Heung-min Son. Here, this beginning is tougher, because with this young team, it is harder to find a way to perform.
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"We are putting pressure on the young guys to perform right away. At Spurs, experienced players were there and then we decided to move [them out] but the young guys were there working for a few months, four or five months to understand our way of working.
Mauricio Pochettino has compared his start to life at Chelsea to the beginning of his tenure at former club Tottenham (Getty Images)"Then, after a few months, players like Harry Kane started to play. Okay, that's why it is different and difficult to compare. For sure, Chelsea is an exciting project and we are going to find a way to get results.
"Performances are good but what we are missing is translating that to a positive result." Pochettino also said he is hopeful a win for Chelsea against Tottenham will be the "trigger" to help his side "grow quicker".
"It's a process but I hope it will be the game that will help us to grow quicker," he added. "Sometimes it is one game, one performance, one result or one goal that can help be the trigger to change and complete things."