LONDON —
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino defended another undesirable record as the team with the most yellow cards this season in the Premier League.
Pochettino assured that the 56 cards in 18 league matches does not mean that there is a lack of discipline, but that it actually means that his players want to compete.
“We are a big club, you feel the pressure,” Pochettino said ahead of Chelsea’s next league game on Wednesday against Crystal Palace. “When you’re frustrated and maybe you don’t have the experience of other teams, you make mistakes.”
The team added five cards in the 2-1 defeat on Sunday against Wolverhampton at Molineux, among those cautioned was Cole Palmer, who will miss the duel against Palace due to his five cards in the campaign.
Rahem Sterling also received a yellow card for simulation seeking a penalty in added time.
“Palmer is playing his first season as a regular with us, it’s normal. The players care, they want to win, they are frustrated,” he added. “It’s not discipline. “We need to have a greater capacity to understand the game situation.”
Reece James, Malo Gusto and Conor Gallagher of Chelsea had already been suspended at the beginning of the season for expulsions, while Nicolas Jackson, who signed this summer, is two warnings away from reaching 10 in the campaign and would be suspended for two meetings after his first veto in September.
Pochettino also pointed to injuries as a contributing factor to the team’s problems, with at least eight players unfit for the Palace clash at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea sit 10th in the league, five places above Palace.
2023-12-25 19:45:44
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