Former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino duly expressed the importance of sustained development from his squad as they gear up for the visit of Wolves later today in the Premier League.
Already more than six months handling the reins in SW6, Pochettino has overseen progress in the playing squad whilst guiding the Blues to the Carabao Cup final and managing to maintain a steady upturn in form.
Prior to the Wolves encounter, the Argentine gave a rare insight into how he views his work and how this in turn shapes his ultimate decisions. He further elaborated that the squad is viewed by him essentially as a meritocracy, as he believes that the players who perform in training and matches will have the opportunity to showcase their talents regularly.
Pochettino proceeded to use Mykhailo Mudryk as an example, detailing the Ukrainian’s role in a meritocratic side with himself, the head coach, looking to get the best out of all of his players.
“If you keep your form and you’re the best in every single training session [then you will play],” he began.
“We’re a meritocracy as a coaching staff and will go with the players who are working the best on the pitch. Misha is a young guy who one year ago arrived here – and we know the circumstances around that – and he needs to improve.
“He has amazing quality and potential, and it is also a collective game. It is not tennis; the players need to perform as a group.
“If you see him, he is amazing, but he needs to adapt and play for the team. The team needs to play for him also. All of that needs time.”
Pochettino believes that nights like the one ending in the disappointing defeat to Liverpool can help build character and determination within his side that is still undergoing development as they are essentially still a young side, as the players are determined to bounce back immediately.
“It was important for us to feel what it means to play against a team that was celebrating their coach, giving positive energy to the team, giving it full confidence,” he continued.
“You need to show your character, your personality, and then play. Then there are circumstances, and after five minutes we could have been 1-0 up. Ok, bad luck. I don’t complain because everyone saw at the end of 90 minutes they were better.
“Now we need to talk about a defeat. But in football, the most important thing is to move on. It’s to not be affected by the result and use it as a situation to improve.
“We are a young team that needs to live this type of situation, we have to feel this to improve.”