Manager Mauricio Pochettino has come under fire from ex-Chelsea striker Carlton Cole for his failure to manage a penalty situation involving three players during the Premier League match where Chelsea thrashed Everton 6-0.
Cole criticized the lack of unity among the Chelsea players on the pitch, attributing it to Pochettino’s shortcomings in organization.
During the game, players Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson got into a dispute with Cole Palmer over who should take a penalty against Everton. Several other Chelsea players, including captain Conor Gallagher, had to intervene to resolve the disagreement.
In the end, it was Palmer who took the penalty kick and successfully converted it.
Cole expressed his frustration, stating, “It just shows you they have got petulant kids in that dressing room, they are 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 is clear as day. He [Pochettino] is not a good organiser then.”
He emphasized the importance of clarity in roles, saying, “It doesn’t matter what the score is, it 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 is nothing that changes that.”
Cole continued, “It starts from Poch. If you were going to do that at a big club like Chelsea, that is childish, that is 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.”