After Saturday’s shocking 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest, Mauricio Pochettino acknowledged that his young Chelsea team needed to show more maturity.
With four Premier League games under his belt, Anthony Elanga’s goal handed Pochettino’s team their second defeat.
At Stamford Bridge, former Manchester United winger Elanga capitalised on Moises Caicedo’s error by sprinting onto Taiwo Awoniyi’s pass and scoring in the 48th minute.
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Chelsea is mired in 11th position in the league with only one league victory this year.
The same starting lineup that defeated Luton 3-0 in the league last week was used by Pochettino, but his inexperienced team struggled to make an impact against Forest.
Cole Palmer, a forward for England’s Under-21 team who was only acquired from Manchester City on Friday, was one of numerous inexperienced replacements Pochettino tried in the second half but to no avail, underscoring the urgency with which his players must swiftly become more battle-hardened.
“We were not clinical in both areas,” Pochettino said.
“We made a mistake and then we created opportunities, but if you don’t score it is difficult to win games.
“This type of game, I think, will help us to be more mature, it is not only about having quality, it is also about competing in different ways.
“Of course, we can’t say that we didn’t deserve more, but in football, the stats sometimes reflect what you do and in that case we created but we didn’t score and we only had a few shots on target.
Since purchasing the team from Roman Abramovich in 2022, Chelsea’s owners have spent over £1 billion on new players, including almost £380 million on 10 acquisitions for Pochettino.
Chelsea now lack coherence and cutting edge, making them vulnerable to criticism if they commit an error at the back.
Despite Chelsea having extensive stretches of possession, West Ham defeated the Blues 3-1, and it was the same tale versus Forest.
Pochettino is not yet under pressure, but the former manager of Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham will be aware that Graham Potter was fired by co-owner Todd Boehly last season after only seven months in charge.
Pochettino is sure Chelsea will turn the tide despite their shaky start.
“We are building something and it is always up and down. We are unlucky because I think we deserved more against West Ham and today,” he said.
“I have said before, it is only a matter of time.”