Mauricio Pochettino may well have been manager at Tottenham, but getting the Chelsea fans on side is high on his list of priorities.
The Argentine was announced as Blues boss just over a month ago, and arrives with a breadth of experience across European football to his name.
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Many Chelsea fans may have had their reservations at such an appointment given his links with rivals Spurs.
However, in part one of his debut interview, Pochettino claimed that the Blues, who finished in a disappointing 12th place in the Premier League last season, are the greatest English team of the last 15 years.
Such a statement was music to the ears of his new fans in west London at the expense of his former club, and his strong message to his new players will only impress the Blues faithful more.
Speaking about the importance of having a strong relationship with supporters, he said: “I know very well that we need to build this relationship. You know, our past is our past.
“We respect our past and we are so proud about our past, but now is time to build with a new club with our new fans, with different fans that behave, of course, and are different to the other clubs.
“And of course, that is our responsibility also, to build a very good relationship with our new fans.
“Hope that we can create, as soon as possible, this good feeling, but I know very well that we are going to create this good feeling about the signal that the team needs to send to them.
“We need to be, you know, a team that shows togetherness, that care about the club, care about the fans, that we are going to fight until the end for the badge.
“And that is the most important thing, the fans need to feel that all the players are going to be involved in the game, they’re going to die for the club. That is the most important thing to create after this good feeling, and for sure we are going to feel proud of each other.”
In a final message to the fans, he added: “We are so excited. We can only promise to work hard and to defend this shirt until the end and never give up.
“And of course, we are going to try to do everything for them to feel proud and to show that we really, really care.
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“That is what we can promise, that is going to be the consequence of our job, our actions, and the way that we make the decisions for the best for the club.”
