“I wasn’t relaxed” – Why Mauricio Pochettino wasn’t happy until full time of big Chelsea win | OneFootball

Chelsea thrashed West Ham today at Stamford Bridge, and it was clear from early on that the game was won.

But speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Mauricio Pochettino insisted that he wasn’t relaxed, even when his team were dominating. Why? Because he wanted to see a clean sheet.

“I wasn’t relaxed in the dugout, I wanted to keep a clean sheet. West Ham are a powerful team on set-pieces and we needed some luck. It was important not just to win the game but also get the clean sheet,” the coach revealed.

We’ve been terrible at set pieces and West Ham hit the bar 3 times in the game, so it’s no wonder he didn’t feel relaxed. He’s also playing for his job to some degree at this point let’s remember, so he will want to add everything possible to his CV, not just points.

Chelsea celebrate a win at Stamford Bridge.

One more aspect to tick off

We can well understand why Pochettino might have been concerned with that clean sheet. The defending at times this season – especially since the turn of the year – has been absolutely terrible. He needed to show that he can coach a team to defend well, and he got two clean sheets in a week.

It’s not just about defensive coaching either. Part of the problems with this young an inexperienced team has been a lack of focus and concentration, especially later in games. Today’s match was an ideal candidate to see some sloppy play, as we were winning so heavily. Pochettino will have been delighted to see focus kept all the way to the end, despite the scoreline.

The return of Trevoh Chalobah to the team has been vital for the overall improvement at the back too, and we expect Pochettino is well aware of that.