Former Chelsea defender Gary Cahill believes the club have built a formidable squad via the transfer market, but he also knows the players need time to adapt.
Chelsea have raised eyebrows with the cash they’ve splashed on players over the last three transfer windows. They’ve invested a cool billion.
Unfortunately, their ambitious transfer activity is yet to pay off on the field, with new manager Mauricio Pochettino losing against West Ham and Nottingham Forest in his first four Premier League games.
Chelsea are known for their high turnover of managers, putting Pochettino under pressure from the off, but Cahill is convinced the former Tottenham boss can mould the talented Blues squad into a dangerous side.
“When we were successful here we had the core of the team and then we added one or two players to that and that’s a lot easier to adapt those players into the system and the football club,” Cahill told Hayters.
“When you have so many changes, it does take time. The ability is there, first and foremost, but it takes time to learn this league and get experience. You get experience good and bad, football’s not all roses.
“They’ve had a few sticky results and that will give them some experience. In contrast to that, the manager has obviously got bundles of experience in this league, so I think he’s a great person to guide them through this.
“Obviously it’s quite disappointing in terms of the results but the average age of the squad is very, very young and it’s a new squad that’s been put together.
“A lot of them have not got huge experience in football just yet and certainly not in the Premier League so that will take time, it’s a very hard league. But there’s bundles of talent.
“I was away on pre-season with them and saw the training, and I was very impressed. But this will obviously take time. Time and patience and let these young players develop.”