‘Only the beginning’ – Pochettino confident Chelsea will improve after West Ham defeat

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino cut a frustrated figure after the Blues’ 3-1 loss at West Ham on Sunday, but says it is ‘only the beginning’ for his side.

The Hammers took the lead through Nayef Aguerd after seven minutes at the London Stadium, but Chelsea looked to be on their way to a win as Carney Chukwuemeka levelled later in the half and the Blues won a penalty shortly before the interval.

“It was the frustration when we miss the penalty. We were playing well and we didn’t get the reward. We start the second half a little bit with this belief until we started again to play,’ he said.

“We need to be more strong in this type of situation because we knew West Ham sit deep and counter-attack and set-pieces are really dangerous.

“Disappointed but this is only the beginning. We need to believe in the process. I think we are going to be stronger and for sure be really competitive.”

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Having already signed Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson in attack, the Blues have beenlinked with a sensational swoop for Kylian Mbappe. The two-time European champions arestill trying to offload Romelu Lukaku, though, with the striker thought to favour a move to Juventus.