25 November 2023 , 18:22
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Mauricio Pochettino savaged his Chelsea stars accusing them of being “so soft” and failing to compete.
Reece James was sent off and Thiago Silva gifted Newcastle a goal with a howler as Eddie Howe’s side smashed the visitors 4-1. Pochettino served a touchline ban and watched the horror show from the directors box, and admitted he was “very very angry”.
Chelsea have failed to keep a clean sheet in six top flight games and conceded eight in their last two matches, including the draw with Manchester City. Pochettino raged: “These games make me very very angry. We have to show personality and character. We cannot play this type of football.
“Newcastle were not great, but got an easy win. We had to show it was difficult for them. But it was so easy the way we conceded and were so soft in every single challenge.
“We didn’t show we were playing for something. We are young and have to learn. We need to be more solid. Mentally or course. Be ready to compete. I can play football, everyone can, but you have to be ready to compete and today we didn’t.
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“It is not about me being there (on the touchline) or not. It is about maturity. We have to show energy and capacity to compete. The big teams perform every week, every three days in this way.
"It was so frustrating. It was really tough. I could not show my emotion. I am very disappointed in the performance. We were not connected with the game. We scored and it was a moment to go. But the team didn’t have the right energy.
Asked about Thiago Silva’s mistake he said: “I am not talking about mistakes. I am talking of energy. We did not prepare ourselves best to compete today. I thought we were ready but we didn’t compete the way the competition demanded. It was our worst of the season. We can blame ourselves.”
Mauricio Pochettino pulled no punches in his assessment of Chelsea's defeat on Tyneside (Sky Sports)Newcastle chief Eddie Howe was delighted at his side bouncing back from two defeats. He added: “It was such an important win. With the position we are in with stretched resources shows the character we have, the leaders we have and how we focus on the present.
“It would have been very easy for the players to feel sorry for themselves and look outside their own performances at the injuries. We have to play the next game in front of us.”