“We don’t need 30 players”…squad stabbings foreshadowed
Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea’s squad needs to be reduced.
Pochettino arrived at Chelsea ahead of next season. Pochettino’s task is to rebuild the Blues, who finished 12th last season, and to do so, he has prioritized trimming the squad during the summer transfer window. The likes of Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly left for Saudi Arabia, while Mason Mount and Kai Havertz joined Manchester United and Arsenal respectively.
Despite the departures, Pochettino still felt the need to reduce his squad. Chelsea have made a number of signings in a tumultuous transfer window since the change of ownership. It’s hard to say if all of them were necessary, and some players ended up being left out of the squad or not even given a chance, and there were voices within Chelsea about this. Pochettino took this into account and aimed to reduce the size of the squad. 메이저놀이터
Pochettino said: “We need 23, 24, maximum 25 players. We don’t need 30 or 35 players. It’s not about the size of the squad, it’s about the balance of the team, and sometimes you can have balance with fewer players,” he said.
Pochettino also thought about the players who would miss out due to an oversized squad. Pochettino said: “It’s one thing to have a lot of players and not be able to manage them, but the real problem is where do the players who don’t play get their motivation from? It’s not going to be easy for them. We can’t ask them to be happy every day and we can’t blame them,” he said.
Further squad reorganization is needed On top of that, Chelsea brought in several players this summer, including Christopher Nkunku, to fill the gaps left by the departures. Players who are classified as surplus resources need to be sold, either outright or on loan. The knife is out, and it’s in Pochettino’s hands.