10 months ago
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Chelsea have been told to back Mauricio Pochettino and give him more time as he needs more leaders at the club.
The Blues have been out of sorts over the course of the season despite some hefty investment from Clearlake Capital.
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Last season, Chelsea finished 12th in the Premier League while this year they find themselves toiling again, sitting ninth.
But club legend John Obi Mikel believes they must stick with Pochettino, who needs time to make his tactics work.
Speaking to talkSPORT at the FIFA Awards in London on Monday night, he said: "I think he needs time to implement his system and what he wants the team to look like, the identity of the team as well.
"We need to have an identity of what we want to do and how we want to play so I hope he gets the time to be able to do that."
Pochettino joined in the summer and has been told to build a squad, which is full of young players.
Three of the five youngest teams in the Premier League this season have been named by the Argentine, with an average age of 23.1 (the youngest this season), 23.6 and 24.1.
Chelsea have been largely inconsistent so far - and their victory over Fulham on Saturday was just the first time they have won three Premier League games in a row since October 2022.
But there have been disappointing results, not least against Middlesbrough last week in the Carabao Cup when they lost 1-0.
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The Blues have a chance to right that wrong when they face the Championship side at Stamford Bridge next week but if they fail, the pressure will ramp up on Pochettino again.
However, Mikel wants Chelsea fans to be patient and called on his own experience to relay some advice when asked how Pochettino must improve.
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"I think it is all across the board, not just the strikers. I think the defence as well," the Nigerian added.
"You need to build your team from defence. That is what we had, we had the likes of JT (John Terry), the leaders back then.
"So you need that to be strong. Also, Petr Cech we had in goal. So you need to build that going forward.
"So he has got time and the owners will back him and we can get a proper team and proper players we need to compete in the next two to three years."
Chelsea could well be active in the transfer window despite already spending millions.
A striker is being looked at with Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney two names mentioned, while a left-back and centre-back are also in their sights.
Whether they can splash the cash for a third successive transfer window looks unlikely, though, meaning a short-term deal could be the club's best option.
But loan deals have been something of a disaster in the past for Chelsea with Karim Benzema and Roberto Firmino linked with Saudi Arabia exits.
