Mauricio Pochettino believes his Chelsea players have learned to “understand each other” after what he called the hardest week of his Stamford Bridge tenure.
The extra-time defeat to Liverpool in last Sunday’s Carabao Cup final denied his young side, who are 11th in the Premier League, the chance to lift silverware in what has so far been a trying season.
They were then given a scare by Championship side Leeds on Wednesday, requiring a last-minute goal from Conor Gallagher to win through to the FA Cup quarter-finals having fallen behind early and then been pegged back to 2-2 in the second half.
There has been much criticism of the nature of the loss at Wembley, coming after the team missed a host of chances during normal time and failed to win out against a Liverpool side beset by injury and featuring four inexperienced academy graduates by the end of the game.
Pochettino was asked whether the fallout from that defeat has given him his toughest spell in the job since taking over in July last year.
“Maybe yes,” he admitted. “We feel very disappointed. We had faith to win, we were so close. After 90 minutes we were the better side. The last 15, 20 minutes we created many big chances to score and win the game.
“Then the energy dropped and we didn’t keep the energy after 90 minutes. That’s why we lost the game. We’re all really disappointed because we put in too much energy to try to win. I think we deserved it.
“We met after the game (Sunday), in a different place away from Wembley. The players started to feel the good spirit. (They were) disappointed and (it was) painful.
“But Monday and Tuesday we were very open. All the players wanted to play. Some were tired with some problems, but everyone wanted to play against Leeds. That speaks highly about the squad.
“They are learning, to compete all together, to feel each other, to know how they behave in this level when it’s a final, with not too much experience.
“They start to understand each other, that’s the most important thing. After seven or eight months, we already know the profile of the players, how they behave.
“But it’s important for them to know each other, to know how they will react under high pressure and high stress.”
Defenders Thiago Silva and Marc Cucurella will be assessed ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Brentford at the Gtech Stadium.
Silva has missed the last five games with injury while Cucurella has not featured since early December.
However, Pochettino confirmed that a hamstring injury is likely to keep Christopher Nkunku out for around four weeks.
The 26-year-old had to wait until December to make his Chelsea debut after joining from RB Leipzig in the summer, having required surgery on a knee injury picked up in pre-season.
He has made only seven league appearances as he has struggled to attain match fitness, scoring twice.
“It’s bad luck to suffer again a setback,” said Pochettino. “It’s tough for a player that hasn’t played too much this season.
“He came from Germany with some problems. He was so good in pre-season. It’s a difficult season for him. It’s difficult to accept.
“I say it’s bad luck because I don’t have the information and knowledge about medicine to say why this type of injury happens.”
Under-pressure Ten Hag claims Ratcliffe wants him to stay at Man Utd
Erik ten Hag has claimed Manchester United's new part-owner Jim Ratcliffe has told him he wants the Dutchman to stay at Old Trafford.
Reports on Friday suggested Ratcliffe, who now runs the footballing operations at United following INEOS' 27.7 per cent purchase of the club, had decided to sack Ten Hag regardless of the result of Saturday's FA Cup final, with the Red Devils taking on Manchester City.
United finished eighth, their worst-ever Premier League finish, this season, with Ten Hag under increasing scrutiny.
However, while hitting out at his critics in an interview with Dutch publication Voetbal International, Ten Hag claimed to have the backing of INEOS.
"INEOS told me that they want to change everything and that they want to rebuild with me," he said.
"This is what they told me directly."
Former Ajax boss Ten Hag also defended his tenure at United so far.
"United won the league for the last time in 2013, 11 years ago. But still they expect us to win every game while competing at the top. This club is not ready for that," he said.
"We were supposed to start building something and we made the first steps last year, but then you find out how big this club is and that nobody is ever satisfied.
"Within the club people were satisfied, but outside the club there was noise, [people] saying I won only the EFL Cup, lost the FA Cup final and finished third.
"Well, then you have no sense of reality. Other clubs had a much better squad."
Ten Hag also suggested that some pundits in England see United as "easy pray".
He added: "It's the biggest club in England and possibly in the world. The club is either loved or hated, there is no in-between.
"So when things go bad, they all start talking and talking with very big words. All this negativity from these so-called experts who don't have the capability to analyse something with facts, but who prefer to attack people to make themselves look better.
"And these same people were the ones who gave me a pat on the back last year. Last year I was able to walk on water, this year I am the worst manager in the Premier League?"
Girona 7-0 Granada: Dovbyk hat-trick sees hosts end fairytale LaLiga season in style
Artem Dovbyk netted a hat-trick as surprise package Girona claimed the biggest win in the club's history with a 7-0 thrashing of already-relegated Granada on Friday.
Defender Eric Garcia opened the scoring on the half-hour mark, pouncing on the visitors' sloppy defending to head home from close range before Viktor Tsygankov doubled the advantage with a tap-in three minutes later.
Dovbyk made it 3-0 from the penalty spot in the 44th minute after a foul on Portu, while Tsygankov scored his second with a simple finish nine minutes into the second half.
Granada were dealt a further blow when they were reduced to 10 men in the 61st minute thanks to Facundo Pellistri's second yellow card before Dovbyk scored again in the 75th. Minutes later, substitute Cristhian Stuani got on the scoresheet with a close-range strike.
The Ukrainian then completed his hat-trick with a 90th-minute penalty to reach 24 league goals this season, ahead of Villarreal's Alexander Sorloth in the battle for the league's top goalscorer.
Data Debrief: Girona go out on a high
Dovbyk scored 24 goals in LaLiga this season, becoming Girona's top scorer in a single season in the competition, surpassing Cristhian Stuani's 21 goals in 2017-18.
Savinho was also a bright spark for the hosts in this game, winning the final penalty to set up Dovbyk's penalty. His assist for Tsyhankov's goal was his 10th of the season - the most registered for Girona this campaign.
Portland Timbers v Sporting Kansas City: Neville urges Timbers to be 'ruthless'
Phil Neville has called for Portland Timbers to be more "ruthless" as they aim to get back to winning ways against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.
The Timbers sit 11th in the Western Conference having won just one of their last 11 matches, though their 4-2 comeback win against 10-man San Jose Earthquakes did come in their last home outing.
Despite their poor run of form, Neville is pleased with what he has seen from his side in recent weeks.
"We do feel as if we're heading in the right direction. There are signs," he said.
"Now it's about us picking up points and making sure we stay in the pack and be more ruthless with what we're doing. It's time that we've got to go out there and deliver."
Kansas City are three points behind Saturday’s opponents in 13th, having failed to win any of their last seven matches.
After a U.S. Open Cup win over FC Tulsa on Wednesday though, midfielder Erik Thommy believes Kansas City can start to build some momentum.
"It's the perfect time for us to turn the season around. We've got to start to collect the points as soon as possible," Thommy said.
"We need the right players on the pitch and look forward while looking at what made us strong in the past. We need to believe in ourselves and trust in yourself and the club. We have to take all of these positive things [from recent matches] into the next game."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Portland – Maxime Crepeau
Portland’s 2-1 defeat to Minnesota marked the 10th straight regular-season match in which they have conceded multiple goals, the longest streak in MLS history. The Timbers have not kept a clean sheet in their last 20 regular-season games dating back to last September, and Crepeau will be hoping to change that.
Kansas City – Johnny Russell
Russell scored his 57th regular-season goal for Kansas City on Saturday, equaling Dom Dwyer for second in the club’s history. Only Preki (71) has scored more goals for Kansas City in regular-season MLS play.
MATCH PREDICTION: PORTLAND TIMBERS WIN
The Timbers have won four straight home matches against Kansas City dating back to 2019. Prior to 2019, Portland had managed just two wins in 10 all-time meetings with SKC at Providence Park (D4 L4).
However, the Timbers have won only one of their last 11 matches (D3 L7) following a 2-1 loss at Minnesota on Saturday. Only CF Montreal (five) have collected fewer points than Portland (six) since this run began in mid-March.
Kansas City are winless in seven straight MLS matches including losing the last four in a row. It has been 13 years since Sporting lost five straight MLS matches, last doing so in April-May 2011.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Portland – 40.3%
Draw – 24.8%
Kansas City – 34.9%
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