When questioned at his unveiling press conference on how he aims to bring success to Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino responded with a passionate answer. 'Through sheer hard work.'
The Argentine is convincing with his words. He knows how big a challenge this job is and he’s certainly not going to leave any stone unturned as he seeks to bring further success to Stamford Bridge, after officially starting his new role as head coach. As he mentioned numerous times throughout the press conference, he’s not someone who looks for excuses in his pursuit of glory.
The former Tottenham and Southampton manager insisted that the Chelsea role was one that interested him immediately, highlighting how it’s a big challenge and one that he feels ready to take on after a year out of the game following a spell at PSG.
What was most striking about Pochettino’s media briefing was that he referred on more than one occasion to where success can stem from – the training ground – and that the hard work for him, his staff and his players starts right now.
‘For me, being at Chelsea is a big challenge that I wanted to feel,’ Pochettino said at his first press conference as Blues head coach. ‘To have that adrenaline and to be fighting for big things in every game.
‘This football club, because of the history, the ambition is to always win trophies. I want to prove that I can deal with that.
‘Right now, we need to be competitive at the training ground. That is where things start. If we are not competitive there, we are not going to arrive where we need to be. I don’t want to give excuses for the players by saying we need time to rebuild and time to work.
‘There are no excuses. We have to work hard to manage and drive [the players] forward in the way that we want. The competition doesn’t wait for anyone and we have to be ready, that much is clear.’
Pochettino also expressed his delight at finally being in the home dugout at Stamford Bridge, acknowledging how tough he’s found fixtures against Chelsea in previous spells at Tottenham and Southampton in the Premier League.
Those experiences, he says, are things he will use when stepping across to the blue side of the line as Chelsea head coach and hopes to bring more silverware to ‘one of the most successful clubs’ in England.
‘This is a great football club, one of the most successful in England,’ added the Argentine.
‘We cannot talk in a different way and from my experiences, it was always difficult to play against Chelsea. When we were at Southampton and Tottenham, it was always a battle and the games were always very, very tough.
‘With or without experience, you can win and you can lose. It’s not a rule. The most important thing is trying to get the right balance in the team to feel good and strong. We have players with experience and we need to put together the ingredients to work really well.’