Mauricio Pochettino questions Chelsea's maturity after Sheffield United draw - 'Struggling to compete'

Mauricio Pochettino said Chelsea are "struggling to compete" at times after their 2-2 draw with relegation-threatened Sheffield United.

Following a dramatic stoppage-time 4-3 victory over Manchester United on Thursday, the Blues were hopeful of putting a run of wins together until the end of the season but suffered another setback at Bramall Lane.

Chelsea were pegged back twice in the game with goals from Jayden Bogle and Oli McBurnie cancelling out strikes from Thiago Silva and Noni Madueke.

The result means that Chelsea find themselves in ninth position in the Premier League table with eight matches remaining, and they face a tough FA Cup semi-final clash against Manchester City later this month.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Chelsea boss Pochettino said his team are not ready to play at the highest level every three days.

"Of course they were tired but that is not an excuse today not to win the game at the end," he said.

"Watching football, as a 52‑year‑old, you identify very quickly when a team is ready to compete or not.

"Maybe because this group is still not mature enough to compete every single game, every three days...because like you say Sheffield is in the relegation zone.

"I'm not saying we're not being respectful, but we need to think a little bit more."

The draw with Sheffield United follows a 2-2 tie with Burnley last weekend.

Both sides are in the relegation zone, and Pochettino added: "It is about being able to compete.

"For different reasons we are struggling to compete in these type of games [against lesser teams]."

Pochettino also highlighted that he has a young squad that still need time to grow together and stressed that it will take some time before Chelsea will be competing for the top honours.

"It is a new team with profiles in the squad that we are learning," he said. "That is why the process to build a team always takes time. It is not a magic thing [clicks fingers].

"When we talk about projects, we talk about three or five years. It is a normal process but we are working to fix this type of problem.

"When we arrive at the end of the season, we need to analyse the squad to see what we are missing and try to add people with the capacity to provide [solutions for] what we are seeing today."

Chelsea next play Everton on Monday, April 15.

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