Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino held a meeting with his entire squad and staff to remind them of the importance of discipline, following a feud between his players over who would take a penalty against Everton on Monday.
The incident cast a shadow over an emphatic 6-0 win as Cole Palmer once again showed his importance to the side with four goals.
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Conor Gallagher had to push Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke away as they fought over who should take the penalty. Gallagher handed the ball to Palmer, who is the side’s designated penalty taker.
Pochettino said he spoke to the entire team, including staff, after the game to reinforce how upset he was over the incident.
“I made it clear after the game. We had a meeting with players and staff, involved also was the sporting directors [Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley] and I explain my feelings and the way they are going to act in the future if something like this [happens],” Pochettino told a news conference ahead of Chelsea’s FA Cup semifinal against Manchester City on Saturday.
“Now we need to move on, they are clever and understood the situation.
“We were talking a lot after Monday. Wednesday, Thursday and today, still because we were practising penalties.”
Pochettino said after the game that “discipline is the most important thing in our team” and is confident his players will act differently in the future.
“In some points it’s an image you don’t like, but in another point it’s good because players want to take and want to take responsibility, show the personality and character of team and the players,” Pochettino said.
“But they need to respect the rules, the discipline is so important and the way they approach or wanted to do the things that they did was in a very wrong way.
“That is why it’s important for them to learn, to apply common sense, discipline and act in a different way in the future.”