Pochettino gives honest verdict on Chilwell and Disasi's Chelsea displays vs Middlesbrough: "We need to help a player like him"
Speaking to the media after the game (h/t Football.London), Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell lauded manager Graham Potter for the tactical change that saw the Blues regain a measure of control in midfield against Manchester United.
The Blues played out a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge in a game that was initially dominated by the away side for the first 30 minutes. Potter then made a change in the 36th minute, removing third centre-back Marc Cucurella and replacing him with midfielder Mateo Kovacic to add an extra body in the central areas.
That move stemmed the control of United and allowed Chelsea to come back and play their own game. In the end, Jorginho’s penalty was all set to give them a win, only for Casemiro to equalise late in second-half stoppage time.
Impressed with the change made by the boss, here’s what Chilwell said (h/t Football.London):
“In the first 30 minutes, they were really on top of us and dominated us a little bit so we made a tactical change.
“I was the closest player to him [Potter] so he pulled me and said we were going to go to a back four. Credit to him and to us because we adapted with it well, especially as it wasn’t even half-time but during the first half. We went with the diamond in midfield where we overloaded them and grew into the game, especially in the second half when we controlled the game a lot more.”
With games coming thick and fast, there is no time to dwell on this result. Although, the changes made were another illustration of how proactive Potter is as a manager. He has already shown multiple traits of adapting in the game to help the team be one step ahead of the opposition.
The late United equaliser did snatch the win from Chelsea, but it is now eight games unbeaten for them under the new manager. In that time, they have conceded a total of only three goals.
Up next, the Blues have a tough away game against RB Salzburg in the Champions League. Even though they are top in their group table, they are only three points ahead of third-placed AC Milan. So, if Potter’s men were to lose on Tuesday and Milan win against Dinamo Zagreb, we are back to square one.
It is a challenging period before the World Cup for Potter and his coaching staff with regards to rotating the squad at the right times and also making sure there is enough quality on the pitch to win games of football.
More of those tactical changes, squad rotation and adaptability will be required for another three weeks till the start of the mid-season break.
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