Mauricio Pochettino mentions it’s time to ‘move on’ from the penalty incident that overshadowed Chelsea’s victory over Everton, but believes the argument between his players showed the ‘character and personality’ within the squad.
Chelsea extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to eight games with a convincing 6-0 defeat of Everton on Monday evening, with Cole Palmer scoring a second hat-trick in three matches at Stamford Bridge.
However, the argument leading up the Blues’ 64th-minute spot-kick, involving Palmer, Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson, proved the major talking point of the one-sided encounter in west London.
Madueke and Jackson clashed over penalty duties before Chelsea’s regular taker, Palmer – now the league’s joint-top goalscorer – grabbed the ball and converted past England colleague Jordan Pickford to make it five on the night.
It’s not the first time Chelsea players have argued over penalties this season, with Raheem Sterling pulling rank and denying Palmer an effort from the spot against Leicester in the FA Cup last month – only to miss from 12 yards.
After Chelsea’s win over the Toffees, a less-than-impressed Pochettino made it clear such behavior would not be tolerated going forward and the Argentine echoed those comments as he faced the media this afternoon.
‘We were talking a lot after Monday. We have been practicing penalties and we were also talking [laughs],’ Pochettino told reporters ahead of Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final with holders Manchester City.
‘I think it’s clear. I made clear after the game, we had a meeting with all the players and staff and the sporting directors were involved, Paul [Winstanley] and Laurence [Stewart], and I explained my feelings and the way that I will act in the future if something like this happens again.
‘It was really clear, the message, which I tried to translate in my post-match press conference and all my interviews.
‘Now we need to move on. It’s about being clever. They are clever and understood the situation.’
According to Pochettino, if there is one positive to take away from the penalty argument it is that Palmer, Madueke and Jackson were all ready to step up and ‘take responsibility’ rather than shying away from the pressure.
‘In one way, it was not an image that we did not like, but in another way, it was good if the players want to take and take responsibility and take the penalty.’ Pochettino added.
‘It shows the character and the personality of the team and the players. But they need to respect the rules.
‘Discipline is so important and in the way that they approach, or they wanted, to do the things, or they did, was in a very wrong way. That’s why it is very important for them to learn and for us to apply the common sense, the discipline and to act in a different way in the future.’
Pochettino is pleased with how his players have trained following their strong performance against Everton and hopes to see this reflected in the game at Wembley tomorrow.
‘Now we need to move forward because everything is clear and, yes, I’m happy with the way we’ve been training and the way we played against Everton. It was an incredible game,’ he said.
‘We need to carry that over to tomorrow in a match that will be very, very tough, another final. It’s a semi-final but it’s a final because you need to advance if we want to be in the final.
‘Certainly, we are going with all the energy and the ability to fight.’
Pochettino has readied his team for the possibility of a penalty shootout against a City team aiming to make up for their elimination from the Champions League by Real Madrid earlier this week.
‘We are prepared. Penalties are penalties,’ he said.
‘Look what happened in the last few days in different competitions. You never know.
‘We have practiced and you never know, we have a clear idea but in the end that is difficult to guess what is going to happen, but I think we are ready.’
