Mauricio Pochettino insists the history of Chelsea demands to win ahead of the club’s Premier League opener against Liverpool this weekend.
Pochettino will take charge of Chelsea for the first time when Liverpool visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with the Argentine appointed as the Blues’ head coach during the summer.
The 51-year-old has been tasked with turning around Chelsea’s fortune after a disastrous Premier League campaign last term, one which saw the west Londoners end 12th in their lowest league finish since 1993/94.
Pochettino accepts that Chelsea are a team in transition right now, but insists the club’s history demands results.
“We are more in transition than Liverpool because I am new here. Klopp has been at Liverpool for seven years. Of course, we are Chelsea. The history of the club is to win,” he told his pre-match press conference.
“Even if we are in transition, we need to win and be ready to win against Liverpool. The mentality for the players is to compete and try to win. I’m not going to accept a different way to think. We want to put the club where the club deserves to be.”
Pochettino was full of praise for Jurgen Klopp ahead of Chelsea’s clash with Liverpool, praising the German as one of the ‘top five’ managers in world football.
“He’s one of the best, top five world managers. I have a good relationship with him. He was so nice when I left Tottenham, one of the best messages I received. He’s doing a fantastic job at Liverpool. They believe in him and giving him the best tools to create a good team to challenge for every title.”
