Mauricio Pochettino Laments After Chelsea’s 2-2 Draw With Ten-Man Burnley

The manager of Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino has admitted that he wasn’t happy with the performance of his team after an abysmal outing against relegation-threatened Burnley.

Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea played from the 40th minute of the Premier League game with a man advantage after Burnley’s Lorenz Assignon was red-carded in the first half.

Four minutes after the red card, Cole Palmer gave Chelsea the lead in the 44th minute via the penalty spot and most football enthusiasts thought Burnley would suffer a whitewash at Stamford Bridge.

Interestingly, Burley’s coach Vincent Kompany was able to set up his team in such a way that the team came back as early as in the 47th minute of the second half.

In the 78th minute, Chelsea restored their lead courtesy of Cole Palmer’s strike. The lead didn’t last for more than three minutes before ten-man Burnley equalized in the 81st minute through the boots of Dara O’Shea.

The game ended 2-2 as Chelsea maintained their 11th spot with 40 points in 28 games, while Burnley maintained their 19th spot with 18 points in 30 games.

After the draw on Saturday, Pochettino said, “Today we didn’t show the capacity, the energy, the hunger. Not the minimum to compete in the Premier League. In the defensive phases, we concede too much.

“That is why I’m so upset and disappointed. It’s more here (in the heart) and here (in the head) than in your legs. It’s about being strong like a group, strong like a team.

“We are too slow evolving in this area. That was the key today. But when we didn’t have the ball, we didn’t have the same energy.

“Today, sorry, I am not happy with the performance when we don’t have the ball. It’s difficult to accept not to win. It was a must-win game.”

He continued: “The players need to realize that competing is different from playing football. We can be there and play, but we need to increase our level.

“It’s not about blaming the players. Maybe we (the coaching staff) need to be tougher with them.

“We need to be more ruthless, find better communication, be more competitive.

“We are missing something. That’s why we are where we are. When we don’t have the ball we need to increase our capacity to recover it.”