MAURICIO POCHETTINO says he has been playing a crossbar challenge with Mykhailo Mudryk in an effort to boost the Chelsea winger’s confidence — but the Blues boss admits he nearly always wins.

Mudryk has failed to score in 22 appearances since joining Chelsea from Shakhtar Donetsk in a deal worth up to £89 million (€103 million) in January.

Determined to raise Mudryk’s morale, Pochettino has challenged the Ukrainian to show his technical ability by hitting the crossbar from long-range at the club’s Cobham training ground.

Pochettino has also played the game with other players as he tries to boost the spirits of his faltering side, who have won just one of their first six Premier League matches.

“We cannot buy confidence at the supermarket,” he said. “It is about time because that is how our brains work. It is about little by little creating situations that can provide the trust and the confidence and the belief.

“I like to play hitting the crossbar from outside the box with the players, and today Mudryk was saying he didn’t want to play with me anymore because I always win.”

Pochettino, 51, said he told the 22-year-old Mudryk he was doing better than the player in the crossbar challenge because he has “belief”.

But he claimed Mudryk is showing signs of adapting his mentality after finally earning a draw with the Argentine.

“The balance between belief and quality I know very well because I am 50 years old, and he is still young and needs to know himself,” Pochettino said.

“Today was the first time that we drew because I always won.

“So I said to him ‘Now you start to believe in yourself, now you start to believe in your quality’.

“Because if there is not a good balance between belief and quality it is difficult. That is important and that is one aspect of that, where you work on the psychology of the player. That can make the difference.”

– © AFP 2023