At last, some positives for Poch to build on
AT THE old cricket club, around the back of Turf Moor, a young lad who can’t have been over the age of eight had his family in stitches. A Chelsea supporter, he sang about winning the Premier League.
The kid wore a smirk when he reached the point of the song that asks whether the audience is going to believe that particular confidence. A bit of a showman and genuinely impressive that he has already mastered irony.
He knows Mauricio Pochettino has quite a bit to do if that is ever going to become reality, the last week representing a start of building something in a season that again feels transitional.
The fortitude to come back from behind at Burnley offers encouragement for the manager to lean on before a daunting run of fixtures on the horizon.
Chelsea boast consecutive league victories for the first time in six months, and given only about half of their squad are going away on international duty, the next fortnight is Pochettino’s biggest since taking charge at Stamford Bridge.
If they can use the time wisely to instil more understanding of his methods, then that will be a break well spent. A chance to hammer home some principles.
They will need it, given six of the next seven matches are against teams with demands of finishing in the European places. And the other one is Brentford.
‘We’ll try not to lose this feeling, this momentum,’ said Marc Cucurella, operating in an unorthodox right-back position. ‘It’s only the start and if we continue like this we can have a really good season. Now we can rest.’
Or maybe not. ‘We’re going to spend the two weeks working at the training ground,’ said Pochettino. ‘To improve players, try and recover those who are injured. We are pushing hard to be better. The mood is different.’
Welcoming back the injured players presents a new challenge for Pochettino. The squad is too big, a determining factor in the failure of Graham Potter, and a few on the sidelines might actually be seen as a blessing. But the manager wants them all available for ‘massive competition’.
Marc Cucurella talked about the need for his peers to all ‘become friends’, pointing to a lengthy adaptation process after another few months of exorbitant spending. ‘When that happens, you fight for them,’ he said.
Burnley are not lacking in fight, although remain way short of producing a proper 90-minute performance against the better sides. Five defeats from five at home spells trouble yet Josh Brownhill insisted that fortune will turn. The Burnley skipper said: ‘I’m sure we’ll be fine because there are some games coming up where you’d like to think we’ll get points on the board.
‘The break has come at the right time. We’ve had a really difficult week. There’s nothing better after that than to have a little bit of down time. Try and take your mind off football for a week and then get back at it.’
BURNLEY (4-3-3): Trafford 5; Vitinho 4.5 (Roberts 61min, 5), Al Dakhil 5 (O’Shea 46, 4.5), Delcroix 5.5, Taylor 6; Berge 6, Cullen 6.5 (Ramsey 61, 6), Brownhill 6; Tresor 5.5 (Koleosho 61, 6), Foster 7.5, Odobert 7.5 (Larsen 79). Scorer: Odobert 15. Booked: Cullen, Odobert. Manager: Vincent Kompany 5 CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Sanchez 6; Cucurella 6, Disasi 7, Silva 6, Colwill 7; Caicedo 7.5, Fernandez 8; Palmer 8 (Maatsen 86), Gallagher 7.5,
STERLING 9 (Mudryk 82); Broja 5 (Jackson 46, 7.5). Scorers: Al Dakhil 42 (og), Palmer 50 (pen), Sterling 65, Jackson 74. Booked: Cucurella, Fernandez, Silva, Pochettino, Caidedo. Manager: Mauricio Pochettino 7. Referee: Stuart Attwell 6. Attendance: 21,654.