Lavia mission, Sterling task – Pochettino's plan during international break

Mauricio Pochettino has plenty to do over the next two weeks in the international break following Chelsea's second defeat of the Premier League season on Saturday afternoon

If he needed a reminder that transforming Chelsea was going to be a difficult and lengthy challenge, Mauricio Pochettino got just that on Saturday afternoon with his side losing at home to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

A calm finish on 48 minutes from Anthony Elanga, after a mix-up between Moises Caicedo and Conor Gallagher, proved to be the only goal of the game at Stamford Bridge in what was the Blues' second defeat in the opening four games of the Premier League season. It left Pochettino visibly disappointed on the full-time whistle and the Argentine called on his young group of players to learn from the experience.

"This type of game will help us to be more mature and learn the competition," Pochettino said to reporters post-match. "It is not only to have quality, after it's about to compete in a different way.

"To match their aggression, to match energy, to match desire. Of course we were better, we cannot say that we didn't deserve but in football the stats sometimes reflect what you do but in that case we create but we didn't score, few shots on target and we should have more. That is about the process, all of the team."

Boos rang around Stamford Bridge at full-time with Chelsea supporters witnessing what they saw so much of last season; dominance and control of the game but no end product. After the Blues comfortably beat Luton Town the week before, many thought Chelsea had turned over a new leaf but Saturday demonstrated that those fundamental issues are still present within the new-look squad.

Chelsea are one of the most powerful clubs around in the transfer market and the last three windows in particular have shown just that. However, the reality is that winning games in England's top-flight is arguably more difficult than getting – what are deemed as – positive results in the transfer market. For all of the club's spend – around £1billion – in the last three windows, the side still remain some way off being where they want to be.

That was always going to be the case and Pochettino knows that, and even alluded to it in his post-match press conference at the weekend. The Chelsea head coach now has 13 days before his side play again because of the two-week international break.

The Argentine's preparations are of course hampered by the majority of his squad jetting around the world to represent their countries but he will still have a few players to work with at Cobham during this time. So, with that said, football.london takes a look at what Pochettino needs to address over the next 13 days before Chelsea make the trip down to the south coast to take on AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League.

It remains to be seen what sort of plan Pochettino has for his midfield when Lavia is fit and available to play. But the exciting thing for Chelsea supporters is seeing a proper, ball-winning, defensive midfielder who is a natural No.6. The idea of Enzo Fernandez and Caicedo either side of Lavia in a midfield three is an exciting one.

Lavia will be working at Cobham in a small group over the next fortnight to try and get himself match-ready for when Chelsea travel to Bournemouth in 13 days' time. The Blues could really be transformed with the possible inclusion of Lavia next time out.

Sterling has been Chelsea's best attacking player so far this season and he needs to try and maintain these levels for as long as possible otherwise he risks falling into the inconsistent category that we have seen with so many Blues attackers over the seasons. Sterling will be working with a small group of players at Cobham after a few days off in order to try and keep his levels high – and he remains one of the first names on the team sheet for when Chelsea travel to Bournemouth on September 17.

It is so crucial that Pochettino and his players use this little break to refresh mentally after a gruelling opening four games of the Premier League season. Even though it has been just a short stint up to the break, it can of course take a mental toll on the players and the staff likewise.

There has been a feel-good factor at Chelsea in the opening stages of the season but Saturday's defeat, met with boos from the home supporters, risks getting rid of that. The next few days will be about resting, both physically and mentally, before the hard work continues later in the week at Cobham.