CHELSEA manager Mauricio Pochettino has laid down the law to his big-money stars and told them to prove their worth.
Poch must fix a bloated squad after Todd Boehly’s wild first year as owner, which included £606million worth of signings and a revolving door of managers.
Chelsea’s new manager Mauricio Pochettino has ordered his high earners to step up
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly splash over £60million in transfers last season
And the Argentinean tactician has warned £106m-World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez, £47.5m Raheem Sterling and Mykhailo Mudryk, signed in an £88m deal in January, to step up after poor starts.
Pochettino said: “Now is a new start, a fresh start, and they need to show their real quality.
“We must give them a chance to show they can cope with pressure at Chelsea and perform with the best.
“We can’t just blame the players, we need to see what is going on and why they are not performing in the way we expect.
“When all is clear, we cannot give excuses to them not to perform.”
When Chelsea gazumped Arsenal to sign Mudryk, 22, it was hailed as a major coup — but the Ukraine winger failed to score and managed just two assists in 17 games.
Pochettino said: “I’m going to meet him before he comes to start the pre-season.
“I’d really like to know him and, with the staff, design the best strategy to help him to be at the level Chelsea expected.”
Fernandez, 22, became a British record signing after helping Argentina become world champions.
But his season petered out as the Blues finished 12th in the Prem, and Poch said: “It was the circumstances — arriving from Argentina to Portugal, from Portugal to the World Cup, and from the World Cup to England, and never stopping for 18 months.
“He’s energetic but the young also need rest and to clean the mind.
“He needs to learn about the Premier League. He changed everything — culture, language — and it’s difficult to adapt.”
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Pochettino wants his big-money arrivals to show they can cope with the pressure
Former Manchester City ace Sterling, 28, was Chelsea’s joint top scorer last season but his tally of nine, just six of them in the league, summed up his and the club’s struggle to find the net.
Pochettino said: “We are talking about a really good player.
“But because of the circumstances in a football club, sometimes it’s not easy for a player to adapt quickly and show the same performance he had at the other club.
“We must reduce the number of people in the squad because it was so big. People need to find their space in the training ground, then in training, then in the team.”
That is literally the case as there were so many stars at the Cobham training ground last term they could not fit into one changing room or all sit down at team meetings.
Chelsea have been working hard to move players on but the futures of strikers Romelu Lukaku, 30, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 34, remain uncertain.
Pochettino is still dealing with a bloated squad at Chelsea
Some of ex-boss Graham Potter’s coaches are still at the club, and the search for a shirt sponsor goes on after fan protests scuppered a deal with a gambling firm.
There are plenty of problems still buzzing around at Stamford Bridge like the flies that would not leave Pochettino alone as he was talking.
But for now, the former Spurs boss is taking the Bob The Builder attitude of, ‘Can we fix it? Yes, we can!’
Poch added: “I am not worried — or maybe I am unconsciously!
“Different circumstances in the last few years have put the club in this situation. That is why we are here — to try to fix things.
“I think we’ll find the tools to create a very competitive team with the opportunity to win.”
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