Mauricio Pochettino explains why he included Deivid Washington in Chelsea squad for Brentford defeat

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Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has explained why he decided to include Deivid Washington in his matchday squad for the 2-0 defeat against Brentford yesterday.

Deivid Washington only turned 18 in June and has not been in England for long following his arrival from Brazil during the summer, but Mauricio Pochettino has told football.london and other outlets that Chelsea’s injury crisis resulted in him calling up the young centre-forward.

While things obviously did not go well for the Blues, it is a day Washington is unlikely to forget.

He was able to make his Premier League debut after coming on just after the 80th minute to replace Marc Cucurella.

Mauricio Pochettino had to include Deivid Washington in his squad

Because of injuries, Pochettino says he had no choice but to select both Washington and Alex Matos.

When initially asked about having two goalkeepers on his bench, the Chelsea manager said to football.london and rest of the media in response: “It’s because we lose yesterday [Mykhailo] Mudryk and Enzo [Fernandez] at the last moment.

“Alex Matos and Deivid Washington, the plan was yesterday to play at 7 o’clock with the under-21 and we stopped them to play, they came with us. We didn’t have another player, only to take another from the under-21 but they were playing also. That is why there are three keepers. Too many injured players and we didn’t have more.”

Injuries ruining Chelsea’s season.

For a club the size of Chelsea and with the players that Pochettino still has available to him, the Blues should really not find themselves in the bottom half of the table.

With that being said, it is clear that injuries are taking their toll and without them, Pochettino’s men would probably be in a much better position.

If Christopher Nkunku had not been sidelined, for example, maybe Chelsea would have more points on the board.

The Frenchman is a goalscorer, finding the back of the net 16 times in the Bundesliga last season. Pochettino thinks he could return to action sooner than expected, which would be a huge boost to the Argentine.

Until then, maybe a player like Washington will get more opportunities. But at his age and with his lack of experience, Chelsea supporters cannot expect too much from the Brazilian if he’s given further chances in the coming weeks.