“It starts from Poch” - Ex-Chelsea striker slams Pochettino over reaction to Noni Madueke after dramatic penalty incident vs Everton
Former Chelsea striker Carlton Cole has slammed Mauricio Pochettino for failing to control the penalty situation during the Blues' recent win 6-0 over Everton. He highlighted that the players were not showing unity on the pitch, and this reflected the manager's lack of organisational skills.
Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson were involved in a heated argument to take the penalty, with multiple other Chelsea players stepping in to clear the air. It was Cole Palmer who eventually took the spot kick.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Cole stated that the Chelsea dressing room was filled with 'petulant kids' and they were not playing as a team. He believes they are all interested in personal goals and said:
"It just shows you they've got petulant kids in that dressing room, they're not on the same page are they? When you went out before a game you'd see on the whiteboard who was on set-pieces, it's clear as day. He's [Pochettino] not a good organiser then.
"It doesn't matter what the score it, is doesn't say on the board if you get a hat-trick you pass it on to the next man. It doesn't work like that. If you're on set-pieces you are the set-piece taker, and if you're on penalties you're the penalty taker, there's nothing that changes that."
He also criticized Pochettino and claimed that the manager needed to do better. He added:
"It starts from Poch. If you were going to do that at a big club like Chelsea, that's childish, that's not anybody who is going to win anything for the club. Rule number one, you don't do that, you show unity on the pitch. Also, I didn't like the reaction, Madueke was in there and he was trying to get the ball off Cole Palmer, so he's instigated it really and then Jackson came over and he tried to snatch the ball out of his hands. Madueke has no reason to be in there."
Chelsea won 6-0 in the game against Everton at Stamford Bridge, thanks to four goals from Cole Palmer, and a strike each from Nicolas Jackson and Alfie Gilchrist.
Mauricio Pochettino confirmed he spoke to Chelsea players about the penalty incident
Mauricio Pochettino admitted that he was not happy to see his players fight for the penalty. He stressed that Cole Palmer was their designated penalty taker and they were not thinking about changing it any time soon.
The Chelsea manager added that he warned the players following the incident. He claims that they will be taken off if they fight for the ball again during a game.
The win saw the Blues move to ninth in the Premier League table with 47 points from 31 matches. They can jump to joint-sixth in the table should they win their game in hand.