Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino thinks things are changing for the better at the club.
There was one moment in Chelsea‘s 1-1 draw with Manchester City last weekend where defender Axel Disasi celebrated a piece of defending he did against Erling Haaland.
And now Mauricio Pochettino, speaking to The Guardian and other outlets, has claimed that such behaviour shows that things are improving at Chelsea.
It has been a poor season for the Blues overall, with Pochettino’s team currently sitting 10th in the Premier League table.
However, they are in the Carabao Cup final, taking on Liverpool at Wembley later today.
Mauricio Pochettino encouraged by Axel Disasi’s reaction versus Manchester City
For Pochettino, watching Disasi celebrating defending was a good sign.
The Argentine said: “Things are changing. Did you see at the beginning of the season this type of behaviour from the players — to celebrate a block, to celebrate all together, to encourage each other?
“That is the process of all new teams – to build this competitive spirit. What Disasi did is a good sign. That is when as a coaching staff you start to feel: ‘We are in a good way.’ “
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Mauricio Pochettino needs similar defending from Axel Disasi today
Disasi, who cost Chelsea £38.8m (Sky Sports) last summer after signing from AS Monaco, was an absolute beast against City.
Pundits Gary Lineker and Micah Richards both thought he was fantastic at the Etihad last Saturday.
If the Frenchman can replicate that performance against Liverpool, Chelsea are going to be extremely hard to break down today.
Pochettino then has to hope that the likes of Raheem Sterling, Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson can do the job at the other end of the pitch. If they do, then the Carabao Cup is likely to come back to Stamford Bridge.
But those are a lot of ifs and we cannot forget how good Liverpool are, even with this injury crisis they are having. Despite missing several key players, the Reds were still able to beat Luton Town 4-1 on Wednesday.
