Mauricio Pochettino said that Christopher Nkunku is still “far away from his best” following his first Premier League start for the club in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
Nkunku played an important role in Chelsea’s opener, feeding Malo Gusto to set up Mykhailo Mudryk before Noni Maduekes late penalty sealed all three points after Michael Olise had levelled the score.
Nkunku’s versatility was on show during the game, starting in the No 10 position but drifted to the right when Conor Gallagher was asked to move into a more advanced midfield position.
Pochettino and Chelsea fans be relieved that the Frenchman played 71 minutes without any injury concerns, having been forced to wait four months for his Chelsea debut, but Pochettino says Nkunku needs time to adapt to a new league.
Pochettino said: “Christopher Nkunku is still far away from his best. He needs time. But he is a very intelligent player who can connect things. Today we missed a playmaker in Palmer.
“Nkunku can do it but he’s a more offensive player who likes to find space between the lines. The combination with the front players was good – every time they connected, something happened. We need to produce that more and more.
“We missed a playmaker like [Cole] Palmer tonight. Nkunku can do this, but he’s more of an offensive player that wants to go forward and have space in between the lines. Sometimes we missed [this]. But the combinations with Mykhailo Mudryk and Nicolas Jackson, they were good.
“It wasn’t an easy game. Palace are a very good team and at the start we were nervous in possession.
“We were thinking too much, and the passes and movement were too slow. But then we started to connect in transition, we created chances, and we scored the first goal.”
