Pochettino believes Chelsea are 'building something'
Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino has revealed he was forced to hold training with only three senior players available as their injury problems show no sign of going away. The Blues face Arsenal in a crunch clash at Stamford Bridge on Saturday but Pochettino’s preparations have been hampered by a string of first-team absences and late arrivals back from international duty.
The Blues were back in on Thursday and Friday following the international break as their stars returned from playing for their countries. But Pochettino was forced to draft in players from their academy to make up the numbers during the break, with only a handful of his first-team squad available to take part.
Thiago Silva, Raheem Sterling and Marc Cucurella were the only players who were fit to train and did not travel for international duty with their respective nations. With eight players either sidelined while continuing their rehabilitation or arriving back late in Cobham, Pochettino was left down to the bare bones.
But while the 51-year-old indicated the situation was far from ideal, he also appreciated that it gave him a rare opportunity to run the rule over the club’s youngsters.
“We enjoy it a lot [the break] because we discover many young talent from the academy, Pochettino said, speaking in a press conference on Friday. “80 per cent of the squad was out [on international duty], some injured players. We only had available Thiago, Raheem and Marc Cucurella.
“I was late more than half an hour [to the press conference] because of meetings then training, before tomorrow, because we only have today to prepare the game.”
It wouldn’t be the first time that Chelsea fielded a youthful squad in a Premier League game this season. In their goalless draw with Bournemouth, Pochettino named a bench featuring six players that had never made their debut for the club, including 18-year-old attacking duo Ronnie Stutter and Deivid Washington.
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One youngster who could start against the Gunners is Malo Gusto, who has been an impressive deputy for Reece James while the club captain has been sidelined with a hamstring issue. And Pochettino has backed the Frenchman, 20, to impress if he plays on Saturday.
“He’s really young but a great talent and tomorrow has the possibility to play. It’s difficult to judge, at 19 years old he came from a different league, and Chelsea is about winning,” Pochettino added.
“In a project with very young players with the circumstances is tough, but we really believe in him. He’s only 19 [sic 20), I’m very happy. I wasn’t happy when he was sent off, I think it [the VAR decision] was crazy. He’s going to be good for the club.”
Chelsea will assess the fitness of Axel Disasi, Reece James and Nicolas Jackson ahead of the game, while Armando Broja has been ruled out with a back injury. Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo are in contention to start the game after training on Friday.
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