Mauricio Pochettino has acknowledged that Chelsea might currently hold a higher position in the Premier League table if they didn’t have such a young squad.
In Wednesday’s FA Cup fourth-round replay win at Aston Villa, Chelsea fielded a team with an average age of 22.8. Despite their success in cup competitions, Premier League form has been more challenging, with the Blues currently sitting in 11th place and having already suffered ten losses this season.
Speaking on Friday, the Blues’ manager was eager to clarify that the difficulties the team has faced this season are not solely due to the ages of individual players. Instead, he attributes their challenges to the significant number of summer signings and the time it takes for players to settle at a new club.
Pochettino explained in his press conference: “I don’t want to be the coach that picks the youngest team in England. We are a young team, but we have a good balance. We have players like Thiago Silva, 39, Raheem Sterling, [Christopher] Nkunku, 26, or [Axel] Disasi.
“At the moment, maybe [the balance] it’s not so good. If not, we could be in another position. It’s obvious.”
Chelsea must find a way to sort out their recruitment plan because it’s evident that spending hundreds of millions on multiple young players is not the right strategy. Pochettino’s team have shown glimpses of brilliance this season, but there’s not been enough of those moments in order to build some real momentum.