Mauricio Pochettino reflects on Manchester United loss
Mauricio Pochettino analysed Chelsea’s defeat to Manchester United in a post-match review, blaming the poor performance to a confluence of factors.
While avoiding blame, Pochettino hinted lightly to the aftereffects of playing with 10 men against Brighton, implying that it may have sapped the team’s energy.
He said: “It was difficult at the start, they showed massive energy. Maybe we were affected because we played Sunday with one less [player] for 60 minutes with similar players.
“Maybe it was difficult for us to start the game in the way that we wanted. Maybe that was one of the reasons why we didn’t start the game well.
“This type of game is difficult to assess because of how [important] one day more was for Manchester [United] to recover and for us to play 60 minutes with one player less. With this situation, we missed a little bit of energy from the beginning.”
“My feeling was they were better than us and deserved to win.”
Chelsea’s failure to restore momentum was clear, as evidenced by their 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford, when Scott McTominay scored twice.
Despite goalkeeper Robert Sanchez’s heroics and Cole Palmer’s timely equalizer, Pochettino said that United just outperformed his team. The manager maintained a measured perspective, visibly serene in comparison to his earlier reaction to the Newcastle defeat.
He added: “Now is not the same [feeling as Newcastle] because we miss players. I think we played against Brighton with one player less for 45 minutes. You can see also our bench is young.
“That is not an excuse but if we need to talk, we need to talk with the reality. I am not disappointed because they gave everything.
“Yes, we didn’t match the energy and they were more aggressive than us but we were competitive and created chances, maybe enough to draw the game.
“We lost 2-1 and we got nothing so that might be where we get critics and people finding different reasons why we didn’t win. But we need to be calm and keep going.”
Chelsea’s away fans were clearly dissatisfied with the team’s performance, as evidenced by their vocal dissatisfaction Pochettino’s detailed insight emphasizes the importance of recalibrating as Chelsea faces new obstacles.
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