Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino feels his team has matured.
Earlier on Sunday, Chelsea defeated West Ham 5-0, strengthening their chances of qualifying for European competitions next season.
Pochettino was especially pleased with the first of two goals by Nicholas Jackson, who was led out to an empty net by Noni Madueke.
Not so long ago, Jackson and Madueke clashed for the right to take a penalty against Everton, and such a goal as against West Ham tells Pochettino that the Blues have maturity in the game.
“This Noni’s “assist” on Jackson showed that we are learning, that we are smart. We were criticized so much because of the penalty situation against Everton, but a young team always needs to make mistakes. You always need to feel something like that to add on.”
“Today, Noni did a wonderful thing, which shows that this group began to believe and began to feel for each other. It’s always a time-consuming process. It may take one month, six months or one year, but the most important thing is that they started setting principles, started living as a team of players, creating all these connections.”
“I’m so happy with it. We are part of the process and are designed to help them grow up, become more mature and continue to develop in all respects. This is a huge step — a step that we wanted to take. Now we need to improve in other aspects, including tactics, but without these principles it is impossible to develop in other ways,” Pochettino was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.