MAURICIO Pochettino said it wasn’t a “magic thing” to build a new team after Chelsea conceded a stoppage-time equaliser in their 2-2 draw against basement side Sheffield United at Bramall Lane last weekend.
The Blues went ahead through Thiago Silva before Jayden Bogle equalised to leave it 1-1 at half-time.
Noni Madueke put the visitors back in front on 66 minutes but Oli McBurnie’s goal three minutes into added-time denied Chelsea successive league wins for the first time since January.
Chelsea have scored at least two goals and conceded at least two in each of their last seven games.
Pochettino’s side have also developed a habit of conceding late goals.
“We have been talking a lot [about that]. It is a new team with profiles in the squad that we are learning the combinations [of] sometimes, that is why the process to build a team always takes time. It’s not a magic thing,” Pochettino said.
“When we talk about projects, we are talking about three or five years. Now, even if we are taking good results in the Premier League, or we are in the semi-final of the FA Cup, because we were not in a good position from the beginning [of the season], that is affecting to be calm and to perform in a different way.
“It is a normal process that has happened. We need to accept, working and trying to fix this type of problem. Always when the end of the season arrives, we need to analyse the squad and what we are missing and try to add people with the capacity to provide what we are seeing today, to improve in the next seasons.”
Meanwhile, Pochettino allayed fears that Cole Palmer has an injury issue.
Palmer was replaced by Carney Chukwuemeka in the 74th minute.
“I think he was tired,” Pochettino said. “My feeling was he was tired. 2-1 for us, Carney is another No.10 who can play there and do the job.
“Yes, I think we are happy with him. We need to protect him. He got a knock against Manchester United and was a little bit more tired than normal, but we wanted to protect him after scoring the second goal. Trying to avoid a problem for the future.”
Chelsea host Everton next Monday.
