'Not mature enough': Mauricio Pochettino forced to admit 'unbelievable' Chelsea weakness after defeat

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino says his team is not ready to compete every three days after they suffered a setback at Sheffield United. They were pegged back by a late Oli McBurnie strike to draw 2-2 at Bramall Lane. 

The draw leaves them ninth on the league table and almost ends all hopes of securing Europa League football next season, unless they can put a good run together. 

Asked if fatigue was an issue as his team looked flat and lacked energy, the Chelsea manager said: “Of course they were tired. But that is not an excuse today to not win the game in the end. They can be tired, of course, that is why we have an unbelievable training centre to provide everything.

“But then it's about to be competitive and maybe I repeat too much but watching football like us, 52 years old, you identify really quick whether the team is ready to compete or not. Maybe this group is not mature enough to compete in games every three days.” 

Chelsea fell soft again

This season has been challenging for the Blues who have failed to find consistency. They reached the final of the Carabao Cup but in all honesty, should have won with Liverpool missing a host of key players to injury.

They have again reached the semi-final of the FA Cup but will come against Manchester City who are the current holders. The good news is that Chelsea have performed well against Pep Guardiola’s side recently.