Mauricio Pochettino has blamed his team’s poor disciplinary record this season on a change in Premier League rules.
Chelsea has now received 47 yellow cards and three red cards this season. Malo Gusto was sent – against Aston Villa in September, and now England duo Reece James.
According to Pochettino, his team’s record is due to the FA’s new rules targeting petulance, such as dissent and kicking the ball away. Pochettino said ahead of Chelsea’s match against Manchester United on Wednesday: “Today we were talking in the meeting and we showed the clips of the yellow cards.” There are too many because the regulations were amended this season.”
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“We touch and we put the ball from here to there, and that is something that we need to change.”
“We were talking about Nicolas Jackson, the yellow card because of complaining to the referee. The opponent made a foul and didn’t receive a yellow card.”
“But you complain about ‘why is that not a yellow card?’ And it’s ‘Oh, yellow card for you’. We receive like this. It’s difficult to understand this rule but now the referees want to apply it.”
No player in the Premier League has received more than Jackson’s seven bookings this term, and the striker has already had to sit out one game through suspension.
Now Pochettino has challenged his players to be much more clever, if they are to avoid picking up similar suspensions.
He said: “Of course it was really painful, the situation, but sometimes when you are a coach there are things you cannot control. This is the beauty of football.” He wasn’t on the pitch. People make you responsible of course. But you cannot change anything from outside. It was difficult. “
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