Mauricio Pochettino has lamented Chelsea’s struggles in front of goal following a 0-0 draw with Bournemouth on Sunday.
For the second successive game the Blues failed to find the back of the net despite having 14 shots on goal and a 1.71 xG, and have managed just five goals in five Premier League games thus far this season – with three of said goals coming against newly-promoted Luton Town.
Speaking to the club’s official website after the bore draw, manager Pochettino pinpointed Chelsea’s problems in front of goal as being central to their inability to win games:
“I think again we need to complete the chances that we create. In the first 20 or 25 minutes we deserved to score but we did not score.
“At the end the game was open, in the last 15 or 20 minutes I think we wanted to win, sometimes we started to disorganise our line because the full-back was so high, which gave Bournemouth the possibility to make some counter-attacks against us in some transitions.
“We need to be more relaxed. Sometimes the defensive players want to help because the feeling is we are creating chances but do not score. Then we need to be clever but many of the players are still learning about the game. That happens when you are building a new team with many areas we need to improve.
“In these type of games when you are pushing and pushing trying to score and you cannot score, it is normal. But if you cannot win, you cannot lose the game. We are disappointed with the result because we wanted to win but of course we know the circumstances in the game. We deserved more but we didn’t get what we deserved.”
Pochettino was also keen to blame the number of injuries Chelsea are currently dealing with for the recent poor performances and results, saying:
“We will be strong when we have a full team. Any team in normal circumstances with all the team fit can compete. But what can we do? We have extraordinary belief but bad luck, because we have 12 injured players, plus then [Marc] Cucurella, [Noni] Madueke and [Moises] Caicedo today. So we had young guys and two keepers on the bench.
“Am I going to cry or complain? No. I need to accept this challenge and keep being positive. Every team is going to compete and it’s going to be difficult, but fair or not fair those are the circumstances. We need to accept it and we need to be positive and patient. We are not going to change the way that we are going to do things.”
