MAURICIO Pochettino says there are lots of factors to consider as to why Chelsea continue to struggle for results after today’s 2-0 defeat at Everton.
After what was an instantly forgettable first-half, it was the Toffees who broke the deadlock through Addoulaye Doucore nine minutes after the interval.
Chelsea might well have enjoyed 72 percent possession, something Sean Dyche’s side seemed largely happy for them to have as the visitors struggled to make it count where it mattered in the final third.
They were dealt a killer blow in stoppage time when substitute Lewis Dobbin added a second to leave Chelsea 12th in the table, exactly where they ended up last season.
Pochettino has yet to discover a way of consistently getting the best out of his expensively assembled squad, although he did point out there are several issues at play.
He said: “It’s not as easy to say that is the problem, it is not only one.
“It is holistic, like football is 11 players on the pitch that need to perform, and there are ideas, philosophy and mentality.
“The problem is why we arrive in this situation.
“We are dealing with that, we know why, but it’s difficult to explain.”
The Everton defeat is a third straight loss on the road, although the manager claimed there had been an improvement at Goodison.
Poch added: “Today I think it’s different to after Newcastle or Manchester United.
“Today I think we were better than Everton and we feel disappointed and maybe frustrated because we weren’t clinical in front of goal and we didn’t create more chances than we did.
“We need to be more aggressive. It’s not only to dominate and play well, it is to compete better.
“But also we cannot show this lack of concentration and concede the first goal we did. But I think we were punished too much today.”
Pochettino’s assertion Chelsea were the better side than Everton is unlikely to impress an increasingly worried fanbase who are increasingly questioning why their marquee summer appointment has yet to deliver.
The Argentine must surely be under no illusions the pressure is on, with next weekend’s home date with basement side Sheffield United starting to look like a must win fixture.
But Pohettino seems up for the challenge and believes Chelsea need to battle their way out of their poor start to the campaign.
He said: “Before talking about the system, before talking about performance, what happens is little by little to change the mentality, to fight the expectation of reality.
“We need to fight. The expectation at Chelsea is massive, always to win the Premier League.
“But of course, after that is reality and the team is still fighting through circumstances.”
Pochettino added: “Sometimes it is good to have a reality check that we need to fight.
“If we want to win we need to be more aggressive in our behaviour, in our way to perform.
“We are not going to win games because we are Chelsea, or because we play well and deserve to win.
“That is our reality now, mid-table, and if we want to move up it’s not only about playing well, it’s about being tougher with ourselves.
“We are going to push and the players need to push themselves also.”
