Mauricio Pochettino admits young Chelsea players are struggling with pressure of playing for the Blues- as he organises a barbecue to help them settle

Pochettino, 52, has revealed that some of the younger players at Chelsea are struggling to deal with the pressure mounting on the team throughout the 2023-24 campaign.

The Blues underwent another summer transfer window of mass investment prior to the current season getting underway - but are yet to hit the heights that you would expect after more than £1 billion ($1.3bn) being spent on the squad. Chelsea currently sit in the bottom half of the Premier League table and squandered arguably their best opportunity to secure silverware, after suffering a 1-0 defeat in the Carabao Cup final to Liverpool.

Speaking to the press ahead of Chelsea's FA Cup quarter-final against Leicester, Pochettino said: “One thing we cannot change is to give time to the players to get experience and be more mature.

“You ask me about Cole Palmer - not all the players have the same process in settling at the club or to perform. We are in a process that of course the main group, the main young players…they struggle a little bit to deal with the pressure to play for Chelsea. That is the thing we are of course aware of and we are focusing on trying to help them in all the areas.”

In an attempt to help the younger players settle in London - such as Noni Madueke, Mykhailo Mudryk and Nicolas Jackson - the Chelsea boss has organised a number of team bonding sessions - one of which being a barbecue at the team's Cobham training ground, where over 120 members of staff were in attendance. Describing the event, Pochettino said: “There are two nutritionists who will control what they are going to eat. We drink water, orange juice, no alcohol. We do not eat too much, (we) eat protein, green salad, no fries.

"The idea is to share between the players and the staff. The players learn to understand what it means to play for Chelsea. Of course having a barbecue doesn’t mean that afterwards we are going to score goals but of course it is about communication, feeling better. Like it is not only a training ground where you come to work, it’s home and we want to create a good feeling between everyone. To get people to fight for the same thing - to win."

While there is little to nothing for Chelsea to play for in the league this season, any progress they can make in terms of the younger players settling will benefit them in 2024-25.

The Blues enjoyed a solid 3-2 win against fellow strugglers Newcastle United in their last outing and attention can now shift to another chance for silverware in the upcoming FA Cup clash against Leicester on Sunday.