“I like to play” Pochettino reveals his his plans to get Chelsea star firing once again

Mauricio Pochettino asked Mykhaylo Mudryk to take the crossbar challenge to help him find his stride at Chelsea.

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is doing everything to help Mykhaylo Mudryk regain his confidence after the Argentine challenged the forward for a crossbar battle.

The former Southampton coach is utaking pointers from the Competitive Dad Handbook, which is a comedy show where a dad thrashs his kids at different sports and pastimes, helping them learn new things. Whatever it takes to get the deal done we suppose.

Now Pochettino is doing the same thing to help the Ukrainian forward find his form from Shakhtar Donetsk. Both Mudryk and Pochettino have been engaged in crossbar challenges, which the manager feels will help the builder build a sense of belief in himself.

During the press conference before their Carabao Cup game against Brighton & Hove Albion, the Argentine manager explained the concept of a new rule to help Mudryk. (h/t Express) He said:

“One example: today, with Mudryk,” he said. “I like to play ‘hitting the crossbar from outside the box’. He said to me today, ‘No, I’m not going to play anymore with you because you always win!’

“I said, ‘Yes, because I have the belief! The balance is between belief and quality. I know very well because I am 51 years old and you are still young”.

These are valuable lessons to learn from a coach who has a track record of developing young players. For a star like Mudryk who lacks self-assurance, Pochettino is the ideal coach to get him back to the peak of his game.

The 22-year-old started the previous two Chelsea games and was top-notch. Mykhaylo Mudryk is always a threat because of his nimbleness and ability to beat defenders, but those attributes have not yet led to tangible results.

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It’s only a matter of time before Pochettino unlocks the quality player waiting to break out of Mudryk. Once he gains that confidence to play freely then we could have a difference maker at the club. Our patience will hopefully certainly pay off sooner.