Mauricio Pochettino praised Chelsea’s belief-building 2-0 victory over Sheffield United, highlighting the significance of key tactical changes made during halftime. The goals from Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson proved crucial, with the adjustments made by the Blues manager playing a pivotal role in securing the win.
Despite Chelsea’s initial struggle to create chances against the bottom-of-the-table side, they managed to rise into 10th place with a victory earned through second-half improvements. Mauricio Pochettino disclosed making subtle changes at halftime that proved instrumental in turning the tide, particularly after experiencing back-to-back away defeats.
Pochettino said after the game in his press conference: “We made a mistake because we were standing still too much in our positions.”
He added:
“In the second half, we were much better. We fixed things. Then the team started to find better possibilities to play and link much better. Cole from the right, with all the space and the possibility to face the goal, started to link better with team-mates and started to be the player we want to use, as a playmaker.”
This tactical tweak ultimately won Chelsea the game because in the first half, Palmer was effectively marshalled out of the game by the likes of Andre Brooks and Vinicius Souza. In the second half however, he was the key influence which the Blades could not stop.
