Mauricio Pochettino was left full of pride for how his Chelsea players performed against Manchester City at the weekend. The Blues played out a truly captivating 4-4 draw with the champions at Stamford Bridge in what will go down as a true Premier League classic.
«Yes, very, very proud,» Pochettino told reporters at full-time. «So happy, the players deserve credit because this performance, this evening was amazing.
»You face a team that for me is the best team in the world and yes too many circumstances that happen during the game that make me very proud because in the way that we manage the game was really good. Of course, always things to improve but it is the process when you want to build a journey, want to build a project from zero."
Pochettino set his side up in a fearless manner. In a manner that would go toe-to-toe with City; something a lot of opposition teams are fearful of doing. There is no doubting the champions' quality, so pressing them from the front, as Chelsea did, is a brave way of facing them as they can rip any team open in an instant.
However, Pochettino did not seem particularly fazed by that and instead wanted to fight fire with fire. From the very first whistle, Chelsea were hassling City in possession; trying to win the ball back.
Some sides may have decided to go long when they saw Chelsea's fierce press but that was never going to be the case with a Pep Guardiola team. What followed was a hugely fascinating contest between two sides desperate for the three points.
Chelsea news and transfers LIVE – All of the latest updates coming out of Stamford Bridge
Christopher Nkunku and the Chelsea stars getting extra training time with Mauricio Pochettino
Chelsea set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation at Stamford
Read on football.london