Mauricio Pochettino refused to believe that Chelsea’s undesirable position as the Premier League club with the most yellow cards this season was due to a lack of discipline.
The club received five bookings in the 2-1 loss to Wolves at Molineux on Christmas Eve, including Cole Palmer, who will now miss Wednesday’s game against Crystal Palace after amassing five for the season. Reporterd By SkySport
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he team has already seen suspensions for Reece James, Malo Gusto and Conor Gallagher after being sent off earlier in the season, whilst summer signing Nicolas Jackson is only two bookings short of 10 for the campaign and a further two-match ban, having also been suspended in September.
Despite this, Pochettino emphasized that his players’ reckless behavior is motivated by a desire to improve the team’s sputtering league form.
‘No, it’s representative that we play for Chelsea, we’re in a major club, you feel the pressure,” he remarked. “When you’re frustrated and don’t have the experience of other teams, you make a mistake.”
‘Palmer is in his first season as a regular for us. It’s normal. The guys care, they want to win, and they are frustrated.
‘It’s not discipline. We need to have more the capacity to read the situation of the game.’
Pochettino also pointed towards injuries as a contributing factor in his team’s struggles, with at least eight players unfit for the meeting with Palace at Stamford Bridge.
Enzo Fernandez is set to be missing for the second straight game, whilst the manager has hinted he does not yet believe Christopher Nkunku and Romeo Lavia are fit to start after long spells out.
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