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Pochettino (51) beats Mudryk (22) in a crossbar challenge!
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Reading Time: 3min | Wed. 27.09.23. | 15:07
The Argentinian is trying to build up confidence, but so far he is not successful
Even the best players in the world are in crisis sometimes. There were days and weeks when some famous strikers couldn't score for a long period of time, and it wasn't because of their abilities or qualities, it was because of their confidence. That seems to be the most important thing for any football player, yet alone a forward. It helps a lot, but when it's lost, it's not easy to bring it back. Among many, many other problems facing Chelsea, player's confidence is another one which coach Mauricio Pochettino has to deal with. And his prime target is Mykhaylo Mudryk, but if he continues with what he is currenly doing, he might even push the player even further into depression.
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Since arriving to Chelsea (instead of Arsenal where he wanted to go), the young Ukrainian (22) has been awful, to say at least. To be totally fair, he did change three coaches already, but two of them didn't have a proper chance to revive his Shakhtar form, and the Argentinian tactician is now keen of doing just that. And he knows that self-belief and confidence are crucal for a young player who came in with a big price tag but just cannot deliver at all. So, he gave him a simple challenge – to hit the crossbar during the training, and to beat his coach in the process. But it's hard to build up confidence when you see that your coach (51) is beating you in that game.
"You know how it works in the brain. It is about, little by little, creating situations that can provide trust, confidence and belief. One example... today, with Mudryk, I like to play hitting the crossbar from outside the box. But he said to me, "No, I'm not going to play anymore with you because always you win".I said, "Yes, because I have the belief. The balance in between belief and quality I know very well because I am 51 and you are still young. You need to still know yourself" said the coach to the press.
Pochettino is desperate to improve the team's form, as he is risking the sack after only few months into the job which he described as 'a project' and every project needs time. Also, in order to win, you need to score, and the Blues are unable to do that either. In fact, the situation is so dire, that if they fail to score at least one goal in tonight's Carabao Cup game against Brighton, they won't be able to present the 'Goal of the month award' to any of it's players! Since the beginning of September, Chelsea have not scored a single goal (0-1, 0-0, 0-1).
"Confidence in one aspect is to score goals. We need to be more natural. To create chances, it's not only about your positional game, your movement, if you play with one or two strikers, or different characteristics of the game, the most important thing is to be natural. We have been talking a lot in the last two days and we are going to work hard and remain positive“ said the Argentinian.
EFL CUP - ROUND OF 32
Tuesday
Bradford City - Middlesbrough 0-2 (0-1)
/Latte Lath 21, Rogers 54/
Exeter - Luton 1-0 (0-0)
/Mitchell 83/
Ipswich Town - Wolves 3-2 (2-2)
/Hutchinson 28, Ladapo 39, Taylor 58 - Hwang 4, Toti 15/
Mansfield - Peterborough 2-2 (1-1)
/Swan 5 pen Akins 90+3 pen - Clarke-Harris 30, 47/
Mansfield win on penalties.
Port Vale - Sutton 2-1 (0-0)
/Thomas 49, Ojo 83 - Kasimu 70/
Salford - Burnley 0-4 (0-3)
/Berge 12, Larsen 20, O'Shea 27, Odobert 81/
Manchester United - Crystal Palace 3-0 (2-0)
/Garnacho 21, Casemiro 27, Martial 55/
Wednesday
21.45: (1.75) Aston Villa (3.60) Everton (4.90)
21.45: (2.05) Blackburn (3.50) Cardiff (3.60)
21.45: (1.65) Bournemouth (3.70) Stoke (5.60)
21.45: (3.45) Brentford (3.50) Arsenal (2.10)
21.45: (2.45) Chelsea (3.45) Brighton (2.80)
21.45: (1.60) Fulham (3.90) Norwich (5.80)
21.45: (9.00) Lincoln City (5.00) West Ham (1.35)
21.45: (1.45) Liverpool (4.50) Leicester (7.00)
22.00: (2.80) Newcastle (3.40) Man City (2.50)
***odds are subject to change
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