Mauricio Pochettino suggested he may need five years to fix Chelsea’s issues after they conceded a stoppage-time equaliser in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
Chelsea had a chance to go within three points of the Premier League’s top six with a victory over Chris Wilder’s rock-bottom outfit, but they twice surrendered the lead on another chastening outing.
Goals from Thiago Silva and Noni Madueke twice put Chelsea ahead, only for Jayden Bogle and Oli McBurnie to hit back for the Blades, the latter doing so in the 93rd minute.
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Chelsea face a battle to secure European football of any kind for next season, sitting five points adrift of sixth-placed Manchester United and four behind West Ham in seventh, though they have at least one game in hand over all of the sides above them.
With Pochettino tasked with blooding several expensive young recruits, the Argentine says there is no quick fix for the Blues.
“We are talking a lot. It is a new team with new profiles in the squad, we are learning about the combinations sometimes,” he said after the game.
“That is why the process always takes time. It’s not a magic thing. It’s a project, a three or five-year process to build a team.
“We are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. We were not in a good position in the beginning.
“It is a normal process that has happened, we need to accept it. We are working to try and fix these types of problems.”
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While Pochettino believes the future is bright at Stamford Bridge, he admitted they did not deserve to take three points from Sunday’s game, lamenting their lack of solidity at the back.
“When you concede in the last few minutes, you always feel very disappointed and frustrated,” he said.
“I want to say the draw is a fair result. Even if we had control and had possession, we didn’t create enough. We didn’t show the capacity to be solid and be strong. That is the painful situation.
“The team is not showing the capacity to be solid. We score goals but we are conceding and that is why they punish us. Maybe this group is not mature enough to compete every three days.”
