Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has highlighted his annoyance at one particular situation, suggesting discussions were needed following “wrong” actions.
Speaking ahead of Chelsea‘s FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City on Saturday, Pochettino addressed the argument his players had over a penalty awarded during their 6-0 victory over Everton on Monday.
While Cole Palmer is the designated penalty taker at Chelsea, both Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson attempted to take the ball to have a chance at scoring from 12 yards themselves. For the Argentine boss, that’s not the right way to go about things.
Chelsea players argued about the penalty on Monday (Image credit: Getty Images)
“We were talking a lot this week because we were practising penalties,” Pochettino said. “I think it’s clear. I made clear after the game. We had a meeting with the players and staff and they were involved also the sporting director.
“I explained my feelings and in the future it cannot happen like this. The message was clear and now we need to move. They are clever and understand the situation. In another way it’s good that a player wants to take responsibility for a penalty, show the character and personality of the team and the players.
“But they need to respect discipline and the rules which are so important. The way they wanted to do things was in a very wrong way. It’s important for them to learn and for us to apply common sense and act in a different way in the future. Now all is clear we need to move on.”
Palmer has been a revelation for the Blues this season (Image credit: Getty Images)
With a shot at reaching the FA Cup final on Saturday, Chelsea will hope that Cole Palmer continues the fine form he has displayed this season, following his hat-trick on Monday night.
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While the former Manchester City man doesn’t necessarily have a point to prove against his old side, having scored against them at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season, he’ll certainly be keen to disrupt Pep Guardiola’s team at Wembley.
