September 29th 2023.
Mauricio Pochettino has had a difficult start to his managerial stint at Chelsea, having won only one of his first six league games. Paul Merson, Arsenal legend, believes that despite these results, Pochettino should be given more time.
Ahead of the Blues' clash at local rivals Fulham on Monday night, Merson shared a positive prediction for the match. He wrote for Sportskeeda: “The Blues have opened up teams but haven’t been scoring freely. On some level, watching Chelsea reminds me of Manchester United because they don’t have a fixed pattern of play or a clear philosophy like Arsenal, Manchester City, or even Liverpool.”
The Blues' woes are only compounded by the large number of injuries that the team is dealing with, as well as Nicolas Jackson and Malo Gutso who will miss the Fulham match due to suspension. Jackson scored the winner in Chelsea's Carabao Cup victory over Brighton on Wednesday night, a “good result” according to Merson.
The former midfielder went on to say: “Mauricio Pochettino still hasn’t found his best team and I feel bad for him as they’ve just gone out and bought player after player with no real plan. They also have a handful of injury issues to deal with, so I think we have to wait before passing judgment on Pochettino’s time at the club.”
Meanwhile, Fulham, who are having difficulty scoring goals themselves, sit three points ahead of Chelsea in 11th place in the table. Merson believes that the Blues will win the match 1-0, but that nothing would surprise him.
As the team continues to transition under Pochettino, only time will tell if the Blues can reach their potential. Merson feels that the manager should be given more time to implement his philosophy, and that hopefully, the team can start to make progress in the near future.
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