Mauricio Pochettino looking to build Chelsea team with ‘capacity to win titles’

Mauricio Pochettino is looking to “build a team that can match the mentality” of Chelsea after his side reached the Carabao Cup final with a 6-1 semi-final second-leg victory over Middlesbrough.

Jonny Howson’s own goal settled the Blues’ early nerves as further strikes from Enzo Fernandez, Axel Disasi, Noni Madueke and a Cole Palmer brace booked their place at Wembley on February 25 against either Liverpool or Fulham.

Boss Pochettino said: “The most important thing is keeping the focus, seeing reality in the way we need to see the reality and see the difference between what is Chelsea and what is the team we are building.

“They are two different things. Our challenge is the history of Chelsea, the capacity to win titles and build a team that can match the mentality of this club.”

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Pochettino emphasised the difference in the scale of the challenge facing him at Chelsea to when he arrived at former club Tottenham in 2014.

Then, he intimated the Carabao Cup might not be a competition that could help Spurs reach their objectives.

At Chelsea, he reflects differently on the competition’s value to the team.

“When we arrived at Tottenham in 2014, the plan was to build a new stadium and to finish the training ground,” he said. “We had a season playing at Milton Keynes and Wembley, (before that) we played with a corner missing from White Hart Lane.

“The principal objective was to be in the top four and play Champions League. The club was fifth, sixth, seventh. That was the challenge. We put everything to try and play the Champions League because it was the way to help the club to achieve the objective of building a new stadium.

“This young team (Chelsea), with this type of experience of going to Wembley, it’s going to build our trust, our confidence, and our mentality like a team – not like a club.

“The club, the mentality of Chelsea is amazing. But like a team, we are new. We need to build confidence and trust.”

Against Boro, Ben Chilwell started for the first time since recovering from a hamstring injury and impressed at left-back.

The manager felt Chilwell and goalscorer Disasi set a standard with their performances and now wants to see such displays consistently.

“They were important today but we need to be consistent,” he added.

“Players like Chilly could do 65 minutes but the objective is to arrive at 80 minutes, hopefully do the 90 minutes, and then be consistent playing every two or three days. That is the most important thing.

“Now we need to help players like him to get their best form, but at the same time we are competing. We can think we are going to play with Chilly or Reece (James), but we know then after 10 or 15 minutes of the second half we have players that we need to change.”