Mauricio Pochettino likens Marc Cucurella role change to building a chair

Mauricio Pochettino says his latest tactical tweak involving Marc Cucurella is evidence that his cries for time to teach his methods and "build the chair" have been justified.

Left-back Cucurella, who has been heavily linked with a summer sale after struggling at Stamford Bridge, has become the posterboy for Chelsea's recent resurgence after being deployed in an inverted role which has seen him step into the Blues' midfield during their last three games.

After impressing in a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa, Chelsea beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 before a 5-0 thumping of West Ham United left many fans questioning why it took Pochettino so long to return to a tactic he had tested in pre-season.

"This role we can implement in the future but before that it is because you need to build the belief, the confidence, the trust, the team needs to compete," Pochettino explained. "The tactical evolution that we, the coaching staff, have in our heads – yes, we will apply in the future but the most important thing, you cannot sit if you don't have a chair. You need to build the chair.

"The problem in football is if you don't have a team, you're expected to behave like a team. You are so selfish and after you need to share. The priorities in football, like an engineer who is going to build a building. You want to see quickly the nice furniture, you want to live there. That is why sometimes we make a mistake when we judge the job of the people, the coaching staff and young players."

Pochettino went on to admit that everything now seems to be clicking for Chelsea, whose young players have faced an uphill battle to meet expectations in tough conditions.

"[Anyone] who knows about football, they know the process to build a team is the most difficult thing because you need to have the knowledge and the capacity to emphasise with every single player," he said. "They need to feel the confidence, they need to trust in us, the coaching staff and we need to create this bond together.

"Then you need to start to identify the players in different aspects, what they need in order to perform and show their quality. This process will always take time but more so with this circumstances we have had since the beginning of the season.

"It was never perfect to have all of the players at the same time, at the same level, competing and trying to improve quicker than the reality was. Then to work with the expectation. The expectation from the beginning, you need to compete in the Premier League with a team that are preparing to come here and kill you.

"The expectation is impossible to fight. Then you need to defend yourself, afterwards you need to explain. But who knows a little bit about football, when the team is young, you need to find the confidence and that is the most difficult thing.

"I am so happy because we are so close to being in that position. After Tottenham I told you that the way we competed is fantastic and then to keep this momentum. I think this team is growing so much, very fast now because that is the minimum standard we need if we want to compete in this league."

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