Pochettino has ‘naughty’ Chelsea request granted with massive Gallagher U-turn

Chelsea were wonderful in and out of possession on Monday night as they secured a much-needed three points in the Premier League away at west London rivals Fulham

There is of course the mental side to their performance – that should absolutely not be discounted. This Chelsea squad have faced a lot of adversity at the start of the season. An ever-growing injury list, criticism from every possible angle and a pressure that is like no other.

But Monday night felt like a turning point. It, of course, is too early to decide whether it will actually be one, but it felt like that could be the case. And for Mauricio Pochettino, who was evidently so proud of what he saw from his players in the West London Derby, he will be desperate to ensure it is.

“In football, you always need to be ready for everything,” Pochettino said when asked whether Monday was a turning point for Chelsea. “Now we are focusing to try and prepare the game on Saturday which will be tough also.

“It is to keep working, give the players belief after two victories. Keep designing the plan to provide them the best tools to perform and when you keep pushing and pushing you deserve what you wanted and I’m so happy for the players.”

It is not as if Chelsea were playing badly before the last week that has saw the Blues pick up back-to-back wins against Brighton and Fulham, but their incompetence in front of goal in the decisive moments had cost them. On Monday, however, two goals in 82 seconds of each other from Mykhailo Mudryk and then Armando Broja ensured they would be making the short trip back with all three points wrapped up.

And they completely deserved it. Chelsea’s tireless work off the ball formed the foundations of what was to follow. It was a very strong performance from Pochettino’s side and one the Argentine will now use as the standard going forward in away matches.

To put it into context, Chelsea’s starting lineup on Monday won 31 out of their 51 defensive duels – a success rate of 60.7%. In the Blues’ previous away outing in the Premier League, the 0-0 draw at Bournemouth, the starting XI on that day won just 25 of their 63 defensive duels – a success rate of 39.6%.

A considerable improvement from Chelsea at Craven Cottage. A more aggressive approach; something Pochettino has been calling out for, as he first referenced just days before the aforementioned trip down to the south coast to take on Bournemouth.

“We want to be more competitive,” Pochettino said last month. “We cannot concede this type of goal that we conceded against Nottingham [Forest]. At some point we cannot be so weak in this type of situation. We need to be stronger because we have players with experience and players who can do better.

“That is the thing we need to improve, be more competitive and not only play well. We are showing everyone that we can compete, we can dominate teams like Liverpool. But then we need to be more competitive.

“I say competitive because I don’t want to use another word, but I will. We need to be more naughty, we need to be more aggressive in this type of situation. When we defend we cannot let teams like Nottingham create only one chance in open play and concede this type of goal.

“But I mean to be naughty or aggressive in a good way, not to be violent. It’s not that we are too nice, we just need to compete better. We need to increase our level, not of our quality, but how we compete and knowing that every single moment of the game requires something to do. It is because we are still in the process of building the team and still we need to find that balance, but for sure it is only a matter of time.

“It’s another part of football, not only to play well or have good organisation. In some moments of the game you need to show more of this quality, whether it’s mental strength or to have the experience to manage better some circumstances in the game. Sometimes it’s not only about the talent that you have.”

Chelsea were more aggressive on Monday, a bit naughtier. One of the most aggressive and impressive performers out there was Conor Gallagher. The 23-year-old midfielder, who is the club’s captain with Reece James and Ben Chilwell both out injured, won seven of his 11 defensive duels on Monday evening at Craven Cottage – more than anyone in the Chelsea team.