Chelsea 3-0 Luton: Nicolas Jackson opens his Blues account while Raheem Sterling bags a double to see Mauricio Pochettino secure his first win
- 8 months ago
MAURICIO POCHETTINO can at last celebrate his first win as Chelsea manager thanks to one of his longest-serving troopers.
Yet it says so much about the smash-and-grab transfer policy at this club that we are talking about Raheem Sterling who has been a loyal and dedicated servant at Stamford Bridge for barely a year.
With seven players in Chelsea's starting lineup who have arrived since January, amazingly Sterling can be considered one of the old guards even though he only joined in July last year.
The England winger was Todd Boehly’s first signing when the American spearheaded a £4 billion takeover which has since seen a further £956 million spent on new players.
And while Sterling’s two goals and match-winning performance are something for Boehly and Pochettino to cheer on, the fact there were so many unfamiliar faces in blue last night underlines why they still require a lot of polish before they can shine.
Sterling cost £47m from Manchester City last summer - just £5m short of the value of the entire Luton Town squad.
Yet had the ‘grand old man’ of Poch’s baby squad not grabbed this game by the scruff of the neck, the picture could still be looking pretty bleak in these parts.
He scored after 17 minutes and 68 minutes. Yet in between it was still much the same old uncertainties as Chelsea’s young squad struggled to find their feet.
A sobering defeat at West Ham last weekend followed a draw at home to Liverpool and it should have triggered a backlash that saw Luton swamped by halftime.
Early on it was like that. Chelsea went at it with their tails up. On seven minutes Sterling got his first sniff of blood by smashing a volley straight at Thomas Kaminski and the power of the shot almost carried the keeper over the line with its ferocity.
Ten minutes later Sterling’s drive paid off with a classy solo goal.
Picking up the ball on the right flank, he bobbed and weaved past half-hearted shadow tackles from Town’s record signing Ryan Giles, former Blues midfielder Ross Barkley, and Amari’i Bell before slotting a shot into the opposite corner.
It should have opened a floodgate of goals and glorious football but this new-look team is still quite unsure of itself - even against a team with a combined value of £52m.
Luton was second best but then they are bound to be.
Not only does their ground hold a quarter of Chelsea’s, but what little spending they could afford in comparison to their well-heeled hosts had to be done last minute after securing promotion via the Championship Play-Off final.
But any home fan who bought a ticket rubbing their hands together at the prospect of watching their emerging bunch of wannabe superstars enjoy a rout will have left disappointed.
Luton failed to mount a shot on target in the first half but then Chelsea managed only two and they both came from Sterling’s trusty boot.
The other attempt was a rising effort from £106m Enzo Fernandez which grazed the crossbar but should have been on target.
The frustra
Yet it says so much about the smash-and-grab transfer policy at this club that we are talking about Raheem Sterling who has been a loyal and dedicated servant at Stamford Bridge for barely a year.
With seven players in Chelsea's starting lineup who have arrived since January, amazingly Sterling can be considered one of the old guards even though he only joined in July last year.
The England winger was Todd Boehly’s first signing when the American spearheaded a £4 billion takeover which has since seen a further £956 million spent on new players.
And while Sterling’s two goals and match-winning performance are something for Boehly and Pochettino to cheer on, the fact there were so many unfamiliar faces in blue last night underlines why they still require a lot of polish before they can shine.
Sterling cost £47m from Manchester City last summer - just £5m short of the value of the entire Luton Town squad.
Yet had the ‘grand old man’ of Poch’s baby squad not grabbed this game by the scruff of the neck, the picture could still be looking pretty bleak in these parts.
He scored after 17 minutes and 68 minutes. Yet in between it was still much the same old uncertainties as Chelsea’s young squad struggled to find their feet.
A sobering defeat at West Ham last weekend followed a draw at home to Liverpool and it should have triggered a backlash that saw Luton swamped by halftime.
Early on it was like that. Chelsea went at it with their tails up. On seven minutes Sterling got his first sniff of blood by smashing a volley straight at Thomas Kaminski and the power of the shot almost carried the keeper over the line with its ferocity.
Ten minutes later Sterling’s drive paid off with a classy solo goal.
Picking up the ball on the right flank, he bobbed and weaved past half-hearted shadow tackles from Town’s record signing Ryan Giles, former Blues midfielder Ross Barkley, and Amari’i Bell before slotting a shot into the opposite corner.
It should have opened a floodgate of goals and glorious football but this new-look team is still quite unsure of itself - even against a team with a combined value of £52m.
Luton was second best but then they are bound to be.
Not only does their ground hold a quarter of Chelsea’s, but what little spending they could afford in comparison to their well-heeled hosts had to be done last minute after securing promotion via the Championship Play-Off final.
But any home fan who bought a ticket rubbing their hands together at the prospect of watching their emerging bunch of wannabe superstars enjoy a rout will have left disappointed.
Luton failed to mount a shot on target in the first half but then Chelsea managed only two and they both came from Sterling’s trusty boot.
The other attempt was a rising effort from £106m Enzo Fernandez which grazed the crossbar but should have been on target.
The frustra