Mauricio Pochettino acknowledged that despite Chelsea’s substantial summer spending of over £400 million on new players, they are lacking in the goal-scoring department.
The Blues made significant investments in acquiring players like Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Christopher Nkunku, Cole Palmer, Axel Disasi, Nicolas Jackson, Robert Sanchez, Lesley Ugochukwu, and Deivid Washington.
However, their struggle to find the back of the net this season was evident, especially after a 2-0 home defeat to Brentford on Saturday, leaving them in 11th place in the Premier League with only 13 goals scored in 10 games.
Although Noni Madueke hit the crossbar and Marc Cucurella missed a great opportunity, Chelsea failed to generate enough chances in the second half.
Ethan Pinnock’s header gave Brentford the lead, and Bryan Mbeumo added another on the counter-attack, sealing a third consecutive victory at Stamford Bridge for Thomas Frank’s team.
Despite holding 69 percent of the possession, Chelsea managed only two shots on target compared to Brentford’s five. Nicolas Jackson’s performance as a forward was subpar, and Raheem Sterling had a quiet game, resulting in a frustrating day for the home fans, who have witnessed just one win in the last 13 Premier League home matches.
When asked if the squad possessed enough goal-scoring ability, Pochettino responded, “It’s obvious that, at the moment, no. So far, no. But [Christopher] Nkunku proved he can score in the big leagues like Bundesliga and he was injured in the last pre-season game. This kind of thing doesn’t help. [Armando] Broja, of course, and in different circumstances Nicolas Jackson was affected for different reasons – he arrived and needs time to adapt. But it’s obvious.”
He added, “Of course, when you see a game like today or against Nottingham Forest when we dominate and cannot score goals when the block is so, so deep and too many bodies in the box, we struggle a little bit to score. But in different games when you play teams like Arsenal or Liverpool, I think the team did really well and that’s why we’re not worried. We need to move on.”
There was a positive note for Chelsea, with Cole Palmer impressing once again in the No. 10 position. The £42.5 million signing from Manchester City caught the eye in the first half, and Pochettino was pleased with his consistent performance.
Pochettino stated, “Yes, he’s showing a great performance, character and personality, of course, we are happy because of the way he arrived on the last day of the transfer window but he’s playing like he’s been here for 10 years.”
When asked if he expected Palmer to perform at this level so quickly, Pochettino replied, “You expect always, you create expectation when you sign a player, but if I say I expected this I’d be lying. You always feel the player, from day one when you start to train you see the talent, but he still needs time to be much better.”
Chelsea performance and stats
Chelsea is currently 11th in the Premier League with 12 points.
In the last 10 games, it has won 3 times, drawn 3 times, and lost 4 times. In its last match, Chelsea lost 0-2 against Brentford.
It has a positive goal difference after scoring 13 goals and conceding 11.
Chelsea will play the next match in Premier League against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday 4th of November in London.
