Chelsea boss fumes over penalty mayhem
Pochettino berates his bickering players for taking the gloss off Palmer’s four goals
Chelsea football coach Mauricio Pochettino should have been beaming after his team destroyed Everton 6-0, but rather than celebrating Cole Palmer’s remarkable four-goal display he instead fumed about his players arguing on the pitch.
Chelsea were leading 4-0 after Palmer’s first-half hat-trick and a goal for Nicolas Jackson when they were awarded a penalty after Noni Madueke was tripped in the English Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.
Madueke and Jackson then wrestled each other for the ball as the referee awaited a VAR confirmation, with regular taker Palmer bemused alongside them.
Eventually captain Conor Gallagher had to intervene to shove the pair away, grab the ball and give it to Palmer, who duly dispatched it to make it nine out of nine from the spot in the Premier League.
“The players know that the taker is Palmer. I am so, so upset about the situation,” Pochettino said. “The image we sent to every single country watching – I want to apologise.
“You cannot behave like this and to have to talk about it after such an unbelievable game is a shame. Players need to show that they are hungry to score but not in this type of situation. I won’t accept this again. I promise that.”
Pochettino praised Gallagher for his intervention and left the players involved in no doubt that they are on thin ice.
“Sometimes for young players the personal things are ahead of the team but they need to know they need to perform for the team and learn quick,” he said. “These are the type of things we take into account for next season. If they don’t learn then yes, we’ll take some decisions.
“When you ask me about why we have no consistency or are not performing sometimes it is because of the standards and they need to learn quick because the demand is so high.”
The Argentine seemed to feel that Palmer’s incredible night, and season, was almost to be expected. “I think the way he has adapted himself is fantastic,” Pochettino said as Palmer moved alongside Erling Haaland at the top of the Premier League scoring charts on 20.