Pochettino: We wanted to win the league, now see where we are

Mauricio Pochettino has conceded that Chelsea haven’t been as good as he imagined they would at the start of the 2023-24 campaign.

The Blues are 11th on the Premier League table after 18 games, and have lost eight of those matches.

Some of Chelsea’s losses have also come against some of the least-expected teams in the division this season, like Everton, Wolves, and Brentford.

Ahead of his side’s meeting with Crystal Palace on Wednesday night, Pochettino was asked how far away they are from reaching their targets, and he replied: “We’re so far away.

“Our target was to be on the top, even if no one believed us. But in the circumstance, we are fighting for different things.

“We are Chelsea, because our history demands us to be at the top. But at the moment, being realistic, we need to increase in the way that we compete if we want to win more games.

“We need to compete better than today [against Wolves]. I think the performance from the beginning of the season is not been bad. We can say it’s very good.

“But I think in terms of competing we are in the bottom. That’s why we are not in a better position in the table.

“In football you need to have the knowledge, the quality, the set-up. But at some point in football during 90 minutes, you need to compete. You need to show in the way you play football. We need to improve there, and that’s about having all the players [available], spending time with them together.

“We need to finish well, winning the [Palace] game, then to go to Luton and then start the new year with different feelings.”