Mauricio Pochettino took to the Chelsea dugout for the first time on Thursday morning as he saw his young Blues players beat League Two side Wrexham 5-0 in North Carolina

Mauricio Pochettino instructs his Chelsea players during the Wrexham game (Image: Chelsea FC on YouTube)

Mauricio Pochettino spoke to the press after Chelsea’s 5-0 defeat of Wrexham (Image: Chelsea FC)

How does it feel to have your first game under the belt, you looked feisty at half-time?

Yes because it was an action that should play, but the referee stopped a clear counter-attack. Like always a pre-season game, happy because of the attitude. Of course it is time to improve. I think it is part of the process in this period to learn in the way we want to play and of course build the physical condition also. I am happy with the performance.

How pleasing was it to see Christopher Nkunku score?

Yes i think the most important now is to get feelings, starting to play again after the holidays. All the players came in at different levels and now it is about putting them all at similar levels to try to compete for the season.

Are there players who started the match playing for their futures?

There are too many players. We need to assess and analyse and see what happens with them in the season. Many decisions that we need to take. But it is good to have the opportunity to see all these young guys who can show their quality. It is important for them and for us to have a real assessment. For sure all have quality, they need time and space to show they can compete for a place in the squad.

When will Reece James join the squad?

I think he is better. He is flying soon and he is going to join the team soon.

READ MORE: Why Andrey Santos and Mauricio Pochettino were left raging in Chelsea’s win over Wrexham

Do you see Christopher Nkunku as a No.9?

I think for the possibility today and the different players we have available and I think it’s a position we decide today to use with him because we only have Jackson and him with the possibility to play as a striker.

You were challenging the young players, did any stand out?

I am happy with all. Always difficult the first game. 50,000 people or more always this is difficult for them first game pre-season, the conditions, you can feel it was hot. I am happy. We will see what happens in the next few weeks and when we come back to England we will decide the future of these young players who maybe have future here or sometime can maybe be part of the squad. For sure great potential.

A lot of midfielders have left, did you see performances from Cesare Casadei and Andrey Santos can play at the level throughout the season?

Of course it is early. The profile is very good, the two names and Carney also, and of course Casadei and Andrey. They have the profile. Only they need time. They are young. We cannot forget we are in Chelsea, the pressure is always to win. They need to have the place, to have time to evolve but yes the profile is good.

What was the thinking behind Marc Cucurella coming on?

The thinking was only that Chalobah feels something in his Achilles. In the last 5 minutes we had the choice to play with 10 or 11.

So it was not related to Fofana’s injury?

You are asking me if I think Cucurella to play centre-back? No, because Thiago did not feel so well. We did not take a risk.

Against the rules?

We agreed with the referees and the coach, Phillip, of Wrexham. If some problem like this, we can.

Do you feel you are getting to grips with your big squad?

I don’t believe it’s a big squad. We have a lot of players in the squad, many young players. It is not difficult, it is good to have all these players and the names we have. We can see, we can touch, we can feel if they can be an imporatnt player for Chelsea. For me it is the opposite. I don’t see it as a problem. For me it is a good thing we can have players during this pre-season, seeing them and evaluating them and seeing if they have potential for the future.

What did you think of the atmosphere?

Really nice, really nice. Was amazing, full stadium. Thank you to the fans here. We really enjoyed the game.

Soucre: football.london