I am desperate to win a title in English football - Pochettino
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino says he's desperate to win a title in English football after his side reached the EFL Cup final with a 6-1 win over Middlesbrough
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00:00 What are the things that have improved over the last two months?
00:22 Well I think the results were good.
00:24 I think we are improving.
00:26 I think from the beginning of the season.
00:29 I think we put all the circumstances.
00:31 I think we need to be happy because we are competing with many things again.
00:42 I think to reach the final was the first objective from the beginning.
00:45 I think we need to congratulate the players, the effort, amazing.
00:50 Yes.
00:54 What we are improving is to believe, never give up, don't listen too much.
01:02 What happens when we don't win or we don't score goals.
01:06 What happens after the first leg against Middelburg.
01:09 I told you we accept the criticism because we are the first that we accept to be critics.
01:17 But I think that is the most important to keep the focus, to see the reality in the
01:27 way that we need to see the reality.
01:29 And of course split what is Chelsea and what is the team that we are building.
01:37 That is two different things.
01:39 And I told you from the beginning of the season our challenge is to match the history of Chelsea,
01:45 the capacity to win titles, to win games, to score goals, to play and to build a team
01:52 that can match the mentality of this football club.
01:57 And when it happens what is going on from the beginning of the season, even when you
02:03 have your full squad fit, it is difficult to win.
02:08 But when you have, like you told me, 11, 12 players always out every single game, it is
02:15 not easy to compete one day and another and another and another and try to win and to
02:20 make the effort.
02:21 Because now, today is Tuesday and Friday we are playing in the FA Cup against a Premier
02:28 League team that is Aston Villa.
02:31 We need to recover the players.
02:33 If you see the amount of injured players, I think we need to make the effort and try
02:41 to recover the players as soon as possible.
02:44 I was joking a little bit with your colleague, I think it was Sky, and I said yes, tomorrow
02:49 six o'clock, 6.30, 6.45 maybe we are for sure we are going to be on the training ground
02:54 to try to think in the way to build the game on Friday.
03:00 That is the circumstance.
03:02 But sometimes, you know, in the opinions or analysis we don't put all the circumstances
03:10 to analyse and to show the real thing.
03:15 Alex Gubbsi, how big is this moment to make it a final in your first season and in your
03:21 next project?
03:22 Yes, in some point it is amazing.
03:25 In some point I think in one side it is an amazing achievement because I think it was
03:30 the objective when we started.
03:32 Because I think we know Europe, no Champions League, no Europa League, no Conference League
03:40 to build a team nearly from the zero.
03:44 And of course, it was the objective to be on Wembley in February, in the end of February.
03:50 I think the job is done but now it is about to win the final.
03:54 I am so happy.
03:56 But on the other side it looks like it is not important because Chelsea is about to
03:59 win Champions League and Premier League and it looks like it is not so important.
04:02 I think we need to start to realise and to give credit to the team because it is a team
04:07 that maybe in a big, massive percentage, maybe they didn't play there still in Wembley.
04:14 And I think it is important for the club, it is important for us and I think in this
04:19 process to build a new team.
04:21 Liam.
04:22 How important is it to get back from the full-backs?
04:36 Important but Chile, after nearly five months or four months, we cannot come with him.
04:42 And we were using different players like, you know, Levi Caldwell or Marco Guglielmo
04:49 also is essential.
04:51 And we have two right-backs that today we cannot count, like Rich James and Armando
04:56 Augusto.
04:57 And of course we are using Axel.
05:04 Always circumstances, I think, you know, but that is the most important thing because I
05:08 think we don't complain.
05:10 We deliver the job and of course we want to play better, we want to win the games.
05:15 But I think they are important, yes, of course today they were important.
05:20 But you know, we need to be consistent, we need to have the players like Chile, 65, 60
05:27 minutes, yes, but the objective is to arrive 90 minutes and cope with the 90 minutes.
05:35 And then be consistent, play every three or four days.
05:38 That is the most important thing because maybe now we need to help, you know, a player like
05:44 him to get the best form.
05:48 But we are competing.
05:49 At the same time we always think, OK, we are going to play with Chile, we are going to
05:53 play with Rich, we are going to play with players that we know after 10, 15, 20 minutes
05:58 on the second half we need to change.
06:00 I think that makes it more complicated, the thing.
06:05 But we accept and it's normal for us and we don't complain about that.
06:10 That is what we try to translate to the team, that we can compete in our best way doing
06:16 this.
06:17 Was there anything wrong with Madrid coming off the back?
06:21 No, I think if you watch the game, we got a yellow card.
06:26 Yes or no?
06:27 Yes, when we sold out the goal to Chile, he got a yellow card.
06:33 And then there was an action on the end of the first half, there were two risks.
06:42 There was nearly, if he touched the opponent, I think it was the second, and we didn't
06:47 want to take a risk with him.
06:49 So that's been a problem for you this season in terms of yellow cards that you don't
06:55 need?
06:56 Yes, I think it was a necessary risk to have him on the pitch.
07:01 Yes, that is why we changed.
07:10 Mike, you said what it means to the club to get to a Wembley final.
07:15 What would it mean to you to win a trophy because you came very close in with Tottenham,
07:21 the Champions League final.
07:22 What would it mean to you to win a trophy in English football?
07:25 Yes, I am desperate to win a title here.
07:29 We won in one and a half in Paris, three trophies.
07:35 And we want to win here.
07:37 I am desperate to win, of course.
07:45 That is the headline.
07:46 In your first season at Spurs you got to a League Cup final and lost to Chelsea.
07:47 And these chances to win trophies, even for the top managers, you only play so many finals,
07:48 this is a chance, I imagine you're saying to your players, you've got to grasp this
07:49 chance, you've got to seize this chance.
07:50 Yes, I think it is really important for us.
08:10 Of course, we are going to have a full and all Liverpool, two amazing teams, that is
08:16 going to be difficult.
08:17 But, of course, I think now is the moment to believe that we can win.
08:21 And, of course, now we need to prepare Friday's game against Aston Villa.
08:25 But I think it is an important step for us because it is the confidence and the belief
08:31 in ourselves, I think, is so important.
08:34 And then that is going to help because of the motivation and players that are so close
08:40 to come back to the team.
08:41 Look, tomorrow, too many injured players, maybe they want to go for training, Jesus,
08:49 maybe.
08:50 You know, seeing the final there, close.
08:53 When you were at Tottenham, you weren't convinced that the League Cup would change the mentality
09:04 of the club.
09:05 You said that from time to time, you couldn't turn in the winners.
09:06 Do you think playing in the competition here would do things for your young squad and the
09:09 club at the same time?
09:11 I need to clarify again.
09:13 For five years after, I see when, again, we need to put all the things in the circumstances,
09:21 in the time also.
09:22 When we arrived at Tottenham in 2014, the plan was to build a new stadium and finish
09:27 the training ground.
09:29 If you remember, we played before to move to a new stadium, we played in one season
09:34 to Milton Kean, to Wembley, Europa League, and of course, without the corner, when you
09:42 go into the overhand lane on the left, this corner disappears and we play like this.
09:51 The objective, the principal objective was, you know, to be in the top four and to play
09:57 in the Champions League.
09:58 That was because always the club was there, was there.
10:01 Five, six, seven, five, six, seven.
10:04 That was the challenge.
10:06 We put everything to try to play in the Champions League because it was the way to, I don't
10:16 want to be wrong, but I think it was the way to help the club to achieve the objective
10:24 that the club wanted, you know, that is to build a new stadium.
10:29 Of course, we prioritised the Champions League with the club, with Daniel and with everyone
10:34 to say yes, to prioritise to be in the Champions League, the Premier League.
10:41 And of course, I didn't say that it's not helping.
10:44 I think today this team is going to help because we today don't have the possibility to play
10:51 in the Champions League or to be in Europe.
10:55 But I think it's important because this young team, I think, with this type of experience
11:01 to go into Wembley, I think, yes, we are going to build our trust, our confidence and of
11:07 course our mentality like a team, not like a club.
11:10 Because the club, I think Chelsea's mentality is amazing, the club, the mentality of the
11:16 culture of how to win.
11:18 But like a team, we are a new team that we need to build this confidence and trust and
11:26 to feel what it means to go to Wembley and to play a final or with Liverpool or with
11:32 Fulham now.
11:33 We'll leave it there.
11:34 Thank you very much.
11:35 Thank you.
11:36 Thank you.
11:37 Thank you.
11:37 [BLANK_AUDIO]