CHELSEA boss Mauricio Pochettino said Mykhailo Mudryk “needs to IMPROVE” and “isn’t at his best” after bringing him off against Arsenal.
The Ukrainian started on the left in the London derby and put the Blues 2-0 up after lobbing keeper David Raya.
But he was replaced by Nicolas Jackson 20 minutes later and Pochettino insisted there is still room for improvement for Mudryk.
The boss said: “I think he played well but he also needs to improve. For me, he is still not at his best.
“I think we needed to make a change to add a little bit more pressure with Jackson in front.
“In that situation, we created a few chances and the game was closer to 3-0 than 2-1.”
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Both Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo only came back from international duty three days before Arsenal’s trip.
And Pochettino joked how he could not afford to rest the duo amid fear of owner Todd Boehly’s wrath.
Poch said: “It’s crazy for players to come back from South America on Wednesday and play on Saturday.
“But if I say ‘OK, I’m going to give them a rest’ you [the media] will kill me, for sure if they don’t play – and the owner also.
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“Today Caceido and Enzo arrived after two games in America and they were not fresh. But they are important players for us.
“It’s really tough to arrive like that. I hope now they can recover and train and in one week be at their best.”
Chelsea threw away a two-goal lead with Arsenal fighting back to share the points at Stamford Bridge.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
