Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino is trying to boost Mykhailo Mudryk’s confidence by continually playing crossbar challenge against him.
Mudryk has not scored in his 22 appearances for the Blues since joining from Shakhtar Donetsk for a fee that could eventually reach £89m.
The 22-year-old has started to put in some promising performances in recent weeks, though he and his Chelsea teammates are still struggling to find the back of the net.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of their Carabao Cup third round clash with Brighton & Hove Albion, Pochettino revealed his unorthodox method of trying to improve Mudryk’s morale.
“With Mudryk, I like to play sometimes to [hit] the crossbar from outside the box,” the Argentine said. “He said to me, ‘I don’t want to play anymore with you because you always win.’ I said ‘yes, because I have the belief, and the balance between belief and quality I know very well because I’m 50 years old. You’re still young and you need to know yourself’.
“Today [Tuesday] was the first day we draw, because I always won. Now you start to believe in yourself, believe in your quality. If not, it’s difficult to balance belief and quality.”
Mudryk is still finding his feet in England / IAN KINGTON/GettyImages
Pochettino added: “The problem is we can’t buy confidence at the supermarket. It’s about time. You know how our brains work – it’s about little by little, creating situations where we can provide the trust and the confidence and the belief.
“That is one aspect you work on, the psychology of the player, and that can make the difference to provide the players with confidence to touch the ball and score. It’s a small example.”
Chelsea have won only two of their seven games in all competitions so far this season – a 3-0 triumph against Luton Town in the Premier League and their round two victory at home to AFC Wimbledon in round two of the Carabao Cup.
Their opponents on Wednesday, Brighton, have won five of their six Premier League games this season to sit third, losing only to West Ham and also on their Europa League bow to AEK Athens.