After yet another challenging performance in a Chelsea jersey, Mauricio Pochettino backed Mykhailo Mudryk and insisted the £88.5 million acquisition would finally succeed.
An injury to Carney Chukwuemeka’s knee caused the teenager to leave the pitch just before halftime against West Ham on Sunday. The teenager had earlier evened the score with a goal from Nayef Aguerd.
Chelsea had many fantastic chances to take the lead during the match, but they were undone on the break when Michail Antonio gave the hosts the lead again soon after the interval. Chelsea also missed a first-half penalty.
Chelsea’s dominance of the game intensified after Aguerd was sent off in the 67th minute, but they were still unable to break through. Lucas Paqueta converted a late penalty awarded to Chelsea by rookie Moises Caicedo to secure a 3-1 victory.
Mudryk, who has yet to score for Chelsea, failed to have an impact on the game. He only made 28 touches, matching the number of touches made by Robert Sanchez, the goalkeeper, and he mishandled a close-range volley attempt so badly that it fell outside the area.
Since going to Stamford Bridge, the 22-year-old has had difficulty living up to his hefty price tag, but Pochettino still believes the young winger is still adjusting to the team.
When asked what he thought of Mudryk’s performance and what was wrong, Pochettino said, “Well, I think he needs to be more in the spirit to score.
Pochettino responds to his first defeat as Chelsea manager following the 3-1 loss to West Ham.
However, he usually needs continuity, and today he played 45 minutes. However, he must first establish continuity and trust during the weekday training sessions.
“He’s a young player who needs to earn our trust. We need to have faith that he will build this bond with the team and with us.”
He has a tonne of potential and quality, so I believe it will only take a little while for him to fit in more comfortably with the team and then he will undoubtedly find a way to deliver the results we are looking for.
In contrast, Chukwuemeka will require evaluation in the upcoming days: We need to evaluate Carney, the Chelsea manager remarked. We need to wait while we await the doctors’ assessment, which will be available tomorrow.
Regarding Caicedo’s performance, he continued, “I believe we decided to play with him in the last 30 minutes because I believe he was ready to play 30 minutes.” He might not have been prepared to play right away, but after 30 minutes, definitely.
“He did well.” positive things in plenty. We only let in one goal in the dying seconds, so we can’t really blame ourselves. I believe he had a great impact, but we are all dissatisfied since, in my opinion, we deserved more and ultimately did not have the outcome we desired.