In his first words as Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino stressed the need for togetherness and one of his first actions has shown he is intent on building that.
After having his appointment as the new Blues boss confirmed at the end of May, Pochettino rocked up to Cobham on Monday July 3 for his first official working day at the club. The Argentine would have likely met the majority of staff at the training base with session to officially commence on Tuesday when many senior stars return.
Formalities and media duties were the order of the day for Pochettino and his first words since being confirmed as the new Chelsea boss certainly gave supporters a reason for optimism. Speaking to Chelsea's official website, the 51-year-old said: "For me, it is a pleasure and honour to now be involved with Chelsea Football Club. We are so excited, and I know Chelsea very well, it is one of the greatest clubs in the world. So of course, it was easy for us to make the decision to move here."
"We are so happy that today we can start here at Cobham in the training ground and meet the people and the staff. It is exciting for us and what we want is to bring the happiness again to this great football club. We will work hard, play in a way the fans can enjoy football, and the history of Chelsea is to win - but it is important also in the way we are going to build those victories."
Pochettino also went on to hint at the summer transfer plans he has put in place while also discussing his first Premier League clash in charge against Liverpool which arrives on Sunday, August 13. Building squad harmony and togetherness was also brought up and Pochettino proved his intentions do that by repeating a tradition he would usually do at Tottenham both at the end and beginning of seasons.
According to the Telegraph, Pochettino hosted a staff barbecue with both football and non-football members who work at Cobham invited to get to know him and his backroom staff. Away from the pitch, Pochettino is adamant it is important to give time to every single member of staff working for the club and his message about the type of culture he wants to create certainly showed that.
READ MORE: Mauricio Pochettino says all the right things with first words as Chelsea boss
“I know very well that we need to build this relationship," he said. "Our past is our past, we respect and are proud of our past, but now is time to build at a new club, with different fans that behave and are different to other clubs.
“That is our responsibility to build a very good relationship with our new fans. We hope we can create as soon as possible this good feeling, but I know very well we need to create this good feeling around the signals the team sends to them.
“We need to be a team that shows togetherness, cares about the club, cares about the fans, and that fights until the end for the badge. That’s the most important thing. The fans need to feel that all the players involved in the game are going to die for the club. That is the most important thing to create this good feeling and for sure feel proud of each other.”
