After tonight’s comeback at Stamford Bridge, Mauricio Pochettino thinks it’s an incredible accomplishment for his team to be in the Carabao Cup final, but he’s excited to see it through to the end at Wembley next month.
Chelsea completely overcame their 1-0 loss in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at Middlesbrough on Tuesday night at Stamford Bridge, thrashing their opponents 6-1 in west London.
Now that our spot at Wembley has been confirmed, Mauricio Pochettino discussed why he thinks this could be a turning point in his team’s growth. However, he cautioned that we must make sure we don’t let this chance to win his first trophy in England pass us by when we play Fulham or Liverpool on February 25.
Because we are not in Europe, it was an objective when we started, so in some ways, it’s an incredible accomplishment. Being at Wembley in February was a goal, according to Pochettino, who built the team from almost nothing.
“Now that the task is completed, the focus is on winning the final.” I’m overjoyed. On the other hand, it appears that it won’t matter as much if Chelsea is eliminated from both the Premier League title competition and the Champions League. It’s crucial for the team, crucial for us, and crucial for this process of developing a new squad.
It’s a significant step toward our self-belief and confidence. That will be beneficial because it will boost players’ motivation, and those who are almost ready to rejoin the team will want to return to practice tomorrow in anticipation of the championship!
“I want this title more than anything.” Our goal is to win one trophy here, after taking home three in Paris. Of course, I’m desperate to take home trophies.
Pochettino also talked about the causes of the Blues’ recent success.
“We are getting better since the start of the season, and the results show that.” Reaching the final was the first goal from the start, and we need to be happy in all situations since we are competing against many things that are happening again.
The players deserve our congratulations because they were outstanding. We are getting better because we have faith in ourselves, we never give up, and we don’t pay too much attention to what people say when we lose or don’t score goals—as was the case following the first leg against Middlesbrough.
Maintaining concentration, interpreting reality as it is, and distinguishing between the Chelsea team and the one we are building are the most crucial things. They are distinct entities. The history of Chelsea, our ability to win championships, and the need to assemble a team that can match this club’s mentality present our challenges.
“What has transpired since the start of the season, It is hard to win, even with our entire squad fit. It is difficult to compete every day and attempt to win when 11 or 12 players are constantly out.
We now have an FA Cup match against Aston Villa, a Premier League team, on Friday, and we need to get the players back. We will return to the training field tomorrow in an effort to prepare for the game on Friday.
Against Middlesbrough, Chilwell made his first start since September.
He also responded to the full-backs Ben Chilwell and Axel Disasi’s outstanding displays against Boro…
They were significant, but we weren’t able to use Chilly after five months. We were using other players, such as the injured Marc Cucurella and Levi Colwill. We are using Axel because we are lacking Reece James and Malo Gusto, our two right-backs, for today’s games.
They were significant today, but we must maintain our consistency. Chilly and other players could play for 65 minutes, but the goal is to reach 80 minutes, ideally complete 90 minutes, and then play consistently every two or three days. That is the most crucial element.
“We are competing, but we also need to help players like him get back to their best form.” We may assume that we will play with Chilly or Reece, we are aware that we need to substitute some players after the first ten or fifteen minutes of the second half.
That complicates things further, but we understand and consider it to be the norm. We attempt to convey to the team that by doing this, we can compete to the best of our abilities.
