Pochettino said Chelsea is about winning and he’s not saying it any more

It has taken less than four months for Mauricio Pochettino to change his tune.

On his unveiling as Chelsea's head coach in July, Pochettino was defiant. He may have arrived after the club had suffered their worst-ever Premier League season (fewest points and goals scored), but he spoke boldly about what the club could achieve in 2023-24.

“In football, there is no patience,” Pochettino said. “It is difficult to wait, and when you are in Chelsea, I believe it is not about asking for time — you need to deliver from day one. Football is about today, yesterday. You cannot talk too much long-term. We cannot tell people we need six months to create because it seems not good. We need to create the belief from the beginning.

“We have players that can deliver in the short-term. Of course, I can do a good job, play well and in our style and culture but, of course, it's to win. If you don't win in a club like Chelsea, for sure, you are going to suffer. I don't want to make excuses or talk about the past.”

But such upbeat rhetoric has begun to be toned down. Realism has replaced optimism. Perhaps the size of the task and the difficulty of the job have come to light.

In recent weeks, as Chelsea have struggled to climb the table, Pochettino's tone has changed. He has begun to consistently talk about injuries, bad luck, the youth of the squad, defensive mistakes and has lamented the team's inability to take their chances. They are all valid points, yet a far cry from the “win now, no excuses” mantra of the summer.

After Chelsea's latest setback, the 2-0 defeat at home by Brentford, Pochettino continued to speak about things not going his way. You can understand his frustration; Chelsea had enough of the play and opportunities in the opening 25 minutes to secure the victory. But as the visitors got better at stagnating Chelsea's attack, the home team increasingly ran out of ideas.

“It is difficult now to accept the defeat because we dominated the first half,” he told TNT Sports. “We had control, Brentford did not do what they planned. But you need to be clinical in the final third and when that does not happen, you need some luck, maybe the opponent to score an own goal. I think we conceded from the first chance we conceded.

“This season, I think the team have played well, the team dominate and create chances. It is really disappointing. We were the better team, the better side but, in the end, we conceded two goals.”

Another example came in the written press conference after being quizzed about why Chelsea had registered their 14th scoreless game in 2023, which matched a Premier League club record set in 1995. Having only arrived in July, Pochettino can only be scrutinised for part of that run. It was put to him that Chelsea's failure to buy a top-class centre-forward was a key factor (despite Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson being signed in the last window) and whether there are enough goals in the current squad.

He replied: “It's obvious at the moment, no. So far, no. Bad luck. Nkunku proved he can score in big leagues like the Bundesliga, but was injured in the last pre-season game. This type of thing did not help. Then we need to recover (Armando) Broja (from a knee injury) and different circumstances. Jackson was affected for different reasons, but he's young and arriving this season and needs time to adapt. Of course, that is obvious, and your analysis and some point, I think we agree.”

But in the harsh reality of football at the highest level, the coach has to take responsibility. Chelsea have only beaten Luton Town in the league at Stamford Bridge this season, collecting a disappointing five points from six matches. No wonder there were boos from fans at the full-time whistle.

To the naked eye, Chelsea are playing better football than last — this is not saying much, though, because the team were so poor for long periods in 2022-23. But this business is about results and Chelsea have actually made a worse start to this campaign than the last. And that was achieved despite the seismic decision to sack Thomas Tuchel and appoint Graham Potter as his replacement.

After the opening 10 games last season, Chelsea had 20 points and sat in fourth position. It is a measure of how bad they were that they went on to collect just another 24 from the next 28 fixtures to limp home in 12th position.

But maybe that makes the fact that Chelsea have eight points fewer than at the same stage one year ago — meaning they already sit among the also-rans in the lower half of the table — even more cause for concern.

The circumstances are hardly ideal for Pochettino's first return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when Chelsea take on Tottenham Hotspur next week. His old club are top of the table playing with a swagger under Ange Postecoglou, who has had a fraction of the transfer budget to work with.

Pochettino provided more bravado when asked about the challenge of facing Postecoglou's side and the possible negative reaction he will get from Tottenham fans. “We have played Liverpool and Arsenal this season and the team did really well,” he replied.

But how Pochettino could do with a win to stop some of the pressure that is beginning to grow. After all, that is the kind of target he would have set for himself after accepting the post.