MAURICIO Pochettino said it was “a shame” after an embarrassing squabble lasting more than two minutes over who would take a penalty in Chelsea’s 6-0 win over Everton at Stamford Bridge on Monday night.
Cole Palmer had already scored a hat-trick when he was fouled by Abdoulaye Doucoure with the Blues 4-0 up.
With regular penalty taker Palmer still down in the box, Malo Gusto initially had the ball before Noni Madueke grabbed it and then an argument broke out with Nicolas Jackson who wanted to take it. Thiago Silva spoke to the pair before Madueke appeared to think he was going to step up. Captain Conor Gallagher then approached Madueke and snatched the ball out of his hands to give it to Palmer.
But it didn’t end there as Jackson returned only to be pushed away by Palmer and Gallagher, who also pushed Madueke. Jackson and Gallagher continued to argue as Madueke showed his displeasure by petulantly raising his hand three times before it settled down and Palmer beat Jordan Pickford for his fourth goal of the game.
It was Palmer’s ninth successful penalty out of nine this season.
Conversations were still going on between the players before Madueke and Jackson eventually joined in the celebrations with Palmer.
The incident took some shine off the win and Pochettino was asked about it afterwards.
“I can’t accept this kind of behaviour,” Pochettino said.
“I told them it’s the last time I want to see this kind of behaviour.”
“It is impossible to have this type of behaviour after this performance. If we want to be a great team, we need to change and think in a collective way.
“The penalty-taker is Palmer. It’s Palmer who needs to decide if he wants to give the ball to a team-mate. It’s important to fix. They realise now.
“It’s a shame. It’s a process for a young team who need to learn a lot. I need to apologise because fans around the world are seeing this type of situation after 4-0 to fight for a penalty.
“They need to learn and be professional. We need to be focused on the collective. It’s a clear example that it’s a process we still need to learn.”
Palmer, who is joint-top of the Premier League scoring charts with Erling Haaland on 20 goals this season, played it down.
He said: “Other players wanted to take it, but I am the penalty-taker and I wanted to take it.
“I think we are showing everyone wants to take responsibility. It may be a bit over the top, but everyone wants to win. We are laughing and joking about it.”
