Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has spoken about his squad situation ahead of today’s London derby with Arsenal. The Blues are a long way back in the standings, as low as ninth, but still in with a chance of a place in the European tournaments, while the Gunners top the table level on points with second-placed Liverpool.
Despite the not particularly brilliant development of the season for Chelsea, the club’s fans will surely be happy if their favorites manage to stop their compatriots in the fight for the title, which is already in the final stages.
Pochettino spoke about the situation with Cole Palmer, who is highly likely to miss today’s game. The 21-year-old midfielder has been the London side’s best player this season, with 20 goals and a further 9 assists in a total of 29 league games.
“Who exactly will take his place? We’ll see, we’ll see. It’s a challenge for the other players to step into his position. If I were them, I’d be motivated to go out and show that this is Chelsea Football Club , not Cole Palmer football club,” announced the Argentine coach on the eve of the match.
This statement on his part was accidental, because 9 of Palmer’s goals have come from penalties, and in the meeting with Everton, a situation was created where Nicholas Jackson and Noni Madueke tried to take the ball away from him before the execution of the 11 meters. A Poch was targeting both his position in the starting line-up and that of the penalty taker.
Pochettino added that he is not worried about a possible penalty because there are enough good players in his team to take responsibility from the penalty spot.
The “Blues” enter a difficult series of matches – today they visit Arsenal, then Aston Villa on Saturday, and on May 2 they host Tottenham.
