- Pochettino urged patience for new signings
- Cited Zidane's move to Real Madrid as example
- Chelsea have four points from as many matches
WHAT HAPPENED? Despite splashing eye-watering amounts of money in the last three transfer windows and having the youngest average age in the Premier League this season, Chelsea have managed to pick just four points from as many Premier League appearances.
But Pochettino has urged everyone to be patient with the new signings as he cited Zidane's example who took time to adapt at Real Madrid after joining them from Juventus in 2001 in his mid-twenties.
WHAT THEY SAID: Speaking to reporters, Pochettino said, "At Chelsea, the expectation is always massive. When you arrive at Chelsea as a player or coaching staff, the people expect to win, lift some trophies, perform and score. We now have a really young squad, players that are good investments for the club. We need to know that they are young and need to adapt and the circumstances and stay calm. It is not fair to assess after one game, two games, or three games and say he is not performing.
"I always use the same example; Real Madrid paid 70 or 80 million for a player named Zinedine Zidane. He was an amazing player but after six months, you can ask the fans at the Bernabeu, and they were saying; ‘oh, what have we bought?’ He started to perform after seven or eight months. Zinedine Zidane was 26 or 27. When you buy players who are 20 or 21 you have to be careful."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: He added, "They are not machines. They need to settle with all the circumstances that happened in the last few months. We need to give time. That’s why it can maybe effect the results that didn’t arrive but we are happy with the process and the way that the team is showing the way we want to play."
Next Match
The Blues have smashed the British transfer record twice in the last two transfer windows by signing Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo but none of them have lived up to the expectations at Stamford Bridge thus far.
IN TWO PHOTOS:
(C)Getty images
(C)Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT? The Blues next face Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday.
