“You will kill me, if they don’t play” - Pochettino says he was forced to involve Chelsea superstars in Arsenal clash despite them not being fresh
Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that Chelsea duo Enzo Fernandes and Moises Caicedo were not fresh enough to face Arsenal on Saturday, October 21. The manager joked that the fans, media, and owners would have killed him if he had not started them £222 million rated midfielders in the London derby.
Speaking to the media, Pochettino admitted that the midfielders were important players for Chelsea. He added that he is happy that they are getting enough rest before facing Brentford next week. He added that his side need to get better overall and said:
"Today Caceido and Enzo arrived after two games in America and they were not fresh. But they are important players for us. So now we are going to have a week to work [until Brentford] and for sure they are going to be better and improve."
He added that he had no option to bench Enzo and Caicedo, as everyone would have killed him, saying:
"It's crazy for players to come back from America on Wednesday and play on Saturday. But if I say 'OK, I'm going to give them a rest' you will kill me, for sure if they don't play. And the owner also! It's really tough to arrive like that. I hope now they can recover and train and in one week be at their best."
Chelsea drew the match 2-2 at home to Arsenal. The Gunners came back from 2-0 down in the final 15 minutes of the game and got close to winning it with Eddie Nketiah.
Chelsea manager admits his side dropped two points vs Arsenal
Mauricio Pochettino was dejected with his players dropping two points against Arsenal. He believes that they had the game under full control until the 77th minute when Robert Sanchez's mistake saw Declan Rice score the first goal for the Gunners.
Bukayo Saka then pulled off a brilliant cross to help Leandro Trossard score the equalizer just minutes after coming on. Pochettino told the media right after the match:
"Yes because I feel until 77 minutes when we conceded the first goal, I think we were in control and didn't concede many chances. I think Arsenal are an amazing team, they were fighting last season for the trophy and I think this season improved with some players also. Yes, disappointed because we dropped two points."
Chelsea are 10th in the Premier League table this season, nine points behind the current league leaders, Manchester City.