Mauricio Pochettino has extended his unbeaten start as Chelsea head-coach with a 2-0 win over Fulham to win clinch the Premier League Summer Series title
Chelsea have won the Premier League Summer Series (Image: Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Mauricio Pochettino has secured his first piece of silverware as Chelsea boss by winning the Premier League Summer Series. The Blues topped the table with seven points from three games, enjoying victories against Brighton and Fulham while drawing with Newcastle United.
Chelsea kicked off the campaign with a seven-goal thriller against the Seagulls which saw Mykhailo Mudryk and Nicolas Jackson score their first goals for the club. Then, against the Magpies, Eddie Howe’s side held the west London outfit to a 1-1 draw before storming past the Cottagers to clinch the Summer Series title.
The Blues will now prepare to lock horns with Borussia Dortmund at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, August 3, before facing Liverpool on Sunday, August 13, to kick-off the new English top-flight season. While plenty of players have impressed Pochettino in the United States this summer, the 51-year-old has suggested that some difficult decisions still need to be made over their futures.
“I think it is clear if Chelsea make an offer for a player it’s because maybe there is some talking with agents or other clubs but I think this type of thing you cannot manage,” said Pochettino. “What is going on behind. Maybe some players for our team that are playing well and we are so pleased and so happy, but maybe they are thinking of leaving Chelsea for different circumstances.
“That is not a big issue, that happens always, it happened in the past and will in the future also. Players that will be here next season need to be happy. Play or not play.
“If they beleive they need to be in the starting XI and they are not going to accept being on the bench because the coach, Chelsea pay me to choose 11 players, it is better they to talk from now. If I don’t play, I don’t want to be here – perfect.
“If I am here, I am committed, I am going to accept that you are the coach and are going to choose the players every single game. It is not a threat. We need to stop thinking ‘I come here to play’.
“No, ‘I come here to help the club to achieve what we want and then I need to convince the coaching staff that I deserve to play’. It is not about to be the coach and thinking like a coach.
“I am a player I need to let the coaching staff work, if not it is impossible. That is why always it is important to have the right players, the right balance and then accept what is going on.”
Soucre: football.london