Mauricio Pochettino: Chelsea must make tough decisions to trim preseason squad

Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea need to be prepared to make tough decisions to trim their “massive” preseason squad and create the right balance in the coming weeks.

Chelsea took 29 players on their preseason tour of the United States, despite allowing 12 first-team players to depart in this summer transfer window and leaving Romelu Lukaku, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi in England to find moves away from Stamford Bridge.

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Cobham graduate Lewis Hall and recent signing Ângelo Gabriel were two players Pochettino was unable to find minutes for in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Tuesday, and after the match Chelsea’s head coach was keen to emphasise that his squad remains too big for what he requires.

“First of all we need to define the squad,” Pochettino said. “We are 29, 30 players here and it’s massive. At the moment the dynamic is really good. They are very good guys sharing a good time together. But it’s difficult because in every game maybe three, four, five players cannot play, and that makes the mood difficult.

“It’s about creating a squad with a good balance with people who have the opportunity to play and compete for a place. That is a challenge for us in the transfer window to build a good balance, and then if players are not happy because they believe they are not going to play, we will find a solution to fix the situation.

“What we cannot do is have a massive squad with players in America not involved, because it’s going to create a mess. Maybe less is more and more is less.

“That is why I need to make clear we don’t need a bigger squad. We need 22, 23, 24 players and that’s it. I’m so sorry because maybe the decisions will be tough, but we need to build a good,