Mauricio Pochettino outlines Chelsea’s 2023/24 objectives as squad told to become animals

Following his unveiling as the new Chelsea head coach, Mauricio Pochettino has identified his plans for the upcoming season.

Pochettino arrives at Chelsea following a dismal 12th placed finish in the Premier League last season.

However, known for his ability to promote youth and develop players, the Argentine is expected to be a perfect fit for Chelsea’s young and underperforming squad.

And upon his arrival to Cobham, the club’s training ground, on Monday, the 51-year-old delivered a rousing message to both the fans and players of the club, vowing to bring success back to the Blue side of west London.

Speaking to Chelsea’s in-house media about his plans for next season, Pochettino said: “The objective is to win because football is about winning. We will have good times, create good relationships, have a nice environment and relationship with people, but the most important thing in the end is to win.”

Pochettino also noted the need for a positive culture of long-term success and consistent progression, something which has arguably been missing at Stamford Bridge in the last few years.

He added: “If you win, it helps develop all the other things. Football is about results, how you achieve that is different because we are people that care about the way we achieve the results.”

As a disciple of Marcelo Bielsa, Pochettino is widely renowned for his attacking style of play as well as setting his teams up to press with high-intensity. And it appears he does not intend to delineate from this principle during his time at Chelsea, encouraging his players to approach every game with the same aggressive mindset.

“We want to win, be competitive, be animals that want to compete every week and in every game. But we need to translate before on the training ground and to train in this way.”

Chelsea players will no doubt face a gruelling pre-season in preparation for their league opener against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on August 14, with their new boss widely regarded as one of the most physically demanding coaches in world football.

Perhaps the most intimidating feature of Pochettino’s pre-season regime is the infamous ‘Gacon test’, an intermittent fitness exercise which could give even the most industrious players a run for their money.

These methods and messages will no doubt be well received by Chelsea fans, who will be expecting far more committed performances throughout the upcoming season than they oversaw in the previous one.