‘I need’ - Mauricio Pochettino makes Liverpool claim in first Chelsea press conference

Mauricio Pochettino has insisted that Chelsea can compete with Manchester City and Liverpool in the upcoming season.

The Argentine has taken the hot seat at Stamford Bridge following tumultuous 2022-23 campaign. Despite the London side spending more than £500 million on transfers after a Todd Boehly-led consortium purchased the club, they finished just 12th in the table. Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter were both sacked along the way, while Frank Lampard served as interim head coach for the final weeks of the campaign.

Pochettino left Paris Saint-Germain in July 2022 despite guiding the club to the Ligue 1 title. He’s had a year out of management, having previously spent five-and-a-half years at Tottenham Hotspur.

His main aim will be to ensure that Chelsea are again challenging for the Premier League top four and silverware. Man City have dominated in recent years, winning the top flight five times in the previous six seasons. Liverpool claimed the title in 2020 while they’ve finished runners-up to Pep Guardiola’s men on two occassions.

When asked what his message is to the Chelsea fans was - and what he expects at his first press conference - Pochettino made his intentions clear. He said: “I think what I am going to do is provide and give the people that trust in me, the owners, the sporting directors, everything that I can do.

“I know I need to build a relationship with the fans, they know me because of my past, but now I am fully committed with Chelsea and I know, how we are going to approach the game, the team need to translate the message to the fans and the fans need to engage with the idea and the philosophy.

“We need to create something and if the fans can feel that I think it is going to be easy to be in the same direction. I repeat again, we can win. We really believe that and we are altogether. I think we can be Chelsea and we can compete and try to beat this amazing team, Manchester City, Liverpool and different clubs.”

Pochettino’s first game as Chelsea manager will be against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on the opening day of the Premier League season on Sunday 13 August.