Mauricio Pochettino Admits Chelsea Have A ‘Height Problem’

Chelsea’s height issue is acknowledged by Mauricio Pochettino, who also discusses his team’s strategy for countering Everton’s physical advantage.

Ahead of Chelsea’s match against Everton this weekend, the manager highlighted the importance of height and physicality for a Premier League club.

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The Blues are among the shortest teams, but the Toffees claim to have the tallest team on paper. Moreover, Sean Dyche’s team has not allowed a headed goal this season, whereas Pochettino’s team has let up goals in each of their previous four games, including their midweek matchup with Manchester United.

When asked how the manager plans to tackle his team’s height problem in their upcoming game, Pochettino told reporters, “It can be a problem, yes. We need to be more aggressive and try to avoid conceding chances like corners or wide free-kicks. We need to be clever in the way we are going to work and try to stop them. In football, it’s the way you approach the game, the attitude and then being clever, trying to avoid giving the possibility to the opponents to use their strengths.

“We need to improve. Conceding in this way, maybe I am not showing too much emotion, but I am really upset. We need to work much, much better in these situations. It is both organisation and desire. For me, we need to stop the crosses. Because after if it is ‘Oh it’s not my problem because the opponent crossed’ then for the defensive line it is so difficult to defend these type of situations.”

The Blues had reportedly opted against signing Declan Rice in the summer who eventually went to Arsenal while they signed Brighton’s Moises Caicedo. Interestingly, Rice measures more than six feet in height while Caicedo is 5ft, 10in which is the same as his midfield partner Enzo Fernandez.

When Chelsea visits Goodison Park on Sunday, they’ll be hoping to overcome their physical disadvantage against Dyche’s team and get back to their winning ways.