The Blues boss had a message for the supporters amid a challenging start to the campaign.
Mauricio Pochettino wants Chelsea fans to accept a new era for the club and not focus on their successful past under the previous owner Roman Abramovich.
In Wednesday’s FA Cup fourth-round replay against Aston Villa, Chelsea bagged a 3-1 victory. Conor Gallagher, Nicolas Jackson, and Enzo Fernandez scored the team’s goals. It marked the end of a three-game winless run, easing some pressure off Pochettino.
The Argentine has had a difficult period in his 222 days as Chelsea’s manager. He has only won half of his 32 games in charge, drawing five and losing 11 times. Yet, while Chelsea rank 11th in the Premier League, the Blues are in the EFL Cup final and have progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup.
“We need to stop thinking that we are the Chelsea from the last 20 years, because we are not,” Pochettino said at a post-match press conference.
“Now, we need to move on. And all together we need to create this project, we need to provide this team – which is the youngest team in the Premier League – with the possibility to perform, to find the balance, to be consistent.”
“That makes me sad because people need to realize that it is not that anymore. Move on. We need to move on. Move on.”
He added: “We cannot build a team capable of challenging teams like the others that are fighting for big things in a few months, because you need to fix too many things.”
“We are building a project that is maybe going to be one year, two years, three years, but at the moment the start of the project is to work, and of course after it’s going to be different.”
In the FA Cup, Chelsea will next face Leeds at Stamford Bridge on February 28 in a fifth-round tie.
They will be back in action next Monday in a Premier League match against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
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