JUST IN: Mauricio Pochettino Speaks on Why Chelsea Must Win FA Cup—Chelsea’s manager, Mauricio Pochettino, claims his team considers the FA Cup very important in their quest to qualify for a European competition.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino and his boys are currently struggling in the Premier League and their chances of qualifying for a European spot at the end of the current campaign are very slim.
Chelsea are currently sitting in the 10th spot on the league table with 28 points in 20 games, 12 points away from 4th-placed Arsenal.
Based on this, their chances of finishing in 1 to 6 places on the Premier League table, which are European qualification spots, are extremely difficult.
Hence, Chelsea’s surest bet to qualify for at least the Europa Conference League is to win the FA Cup or the Carabao Cup.
They are in the semi-final stage of the Carabao Cup where they will battle with Championship club, Middlesbrough at 9 p.m. on January 9. They will play their FA Cup third-round clash against another Championship club, Preston at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 6.
“Through the FA Cup or Carabao Cup, we can achieve that [being in Europe next season],” Pochettino said.
“It’s a really important competition for us because we are not in Europe.
“In the Premier League, we are in a position that we need to grow and improve a lot if we want to be in Europe next season.”
Even though the last time Chelsea won an FA Cup was in 2018, and are currently struggling in the Premier League, coach Pochettino is confident that his team can do it again this season.
“Of course [we can win the FA Cup],” Pochettino said.
“The Carabao Cup and the FA Cup are competitions we need to try to go far [in].”
He continued: “We are going to treat it like a Premier League game.
“Just because it’s the FA Cup and it’s a Championship team, we are going to respect Preston. You will see we are going to put in place a starting XI with all the guarantees to perform.”
