Mauricio Pochettino had to watch from the stands due to a touchline suspension. Photo: Alex Dodd/CameraSport
Mauricio Pochettino has threatened to cancel a day off for his Chelsea players, such is his anger and disappointment at their spectacular defeat at St James' Park.
Watching from the directors' box while serving a suspension on the touchline line, Pochettino saw his defense losing shape and his players losing discipline. Last month's mini-revival is over.
Conceding four goals against Manchester City before the international break was forgivable, even if it exposed some of their weaknesses. Missing four here was very different. Pochettino did not hold back from criticizing his players, calling them “soft” and immature. Unfortunately, he didn't see enough fight from them.
Alexander Isak, Jamaal Lascelles, Joelinton and Anthony Gordon scored on one of Newcastle United's best days of the season, although their goals were also gift-wrapped , and Chelsea's back line was to blame for the loss of concentration. The mistakes came from behind, but Pochettino's entire team was at fault. The sacking of captain Reece James added to the manager's fury.
The situation is made worse by the removal of Reece James. Photo: Getty Images/Stu Forster
“We talked in the dressing room after the game, we should go straight to the hotel and sleep, start training early in the morning and not have days off,” Pochettino said. “We shouldn’t just blame the players, we need to blame everyone and it’s a learning process and understanding that we want to compete at the level that people think we should compete at. We have a very talented team, but competing is not the same as playing.”
Pochettino returns to the Cobham training fields this week. These results against Arsenal, Tottenham and City raised hopes of turning the corner, but it was a huge blow. He was suspended from the technical area for a yellow card against City and could only watch the events unfold.
The work must start from the backline as they look set to concede every time Newcastle attack. Thiago Silva, no matter how brilliant his career, looked his 39th birthday when he gifted the goal to Joelinton. Benoit Badiashile's positioning helped score two goals.
Joelinton rides off in celebration Photo: Andy Buchanan/AFP < p>“I'm disappointed and angry. It's normal to blame ourselves after a performance like this and we need to blame ourselves,” Pochettino said. “We conceded so easily, that's why I'm so disappointed, but it's not just our defensive line. This was our worst game of the season and we have ourselves to blame.
“I'm not talking about mistakes, I'm talking about energy, and we were not prepared for today's fight in the best way, that is my concern. We were so soft in every test. We didn't show that we were playing for something important.
“It's about showing personality and character. We need to be more determined that my teammate will help me if I make a mistake. We must be ready for competition. We can all play football, but we were not ready to be ready for the match to end. In the match against Manchester City, we were focused and fought until the end. Big teams perform like this every three days, and that's what we need to do.”
The first signs of Chelsea's back line losing form came in the 13th minute when Isak opened the scoring after returning from a groin problem. Newcastle simply worked the ball around the penalty area until Isak was free, helped by Badiashile in one frequency and Marc Cucurella in another.
With Isak in play, Lewis Miley found him with a neat pass between outs. Chelsea's positional defender, Isak confidently scores a goal. Miley, 17, was starting his first Premier League game at St James' Park.
Alexander Isak throws the ball into the goal net. Photo: Adam Vaughan/Shutterstock
As with City, Chelsea fought back and got back into the game thanks to Raheem Sterling's equalizer. He won the free-kick from which he scored, racing towards the penalty area and receiving a push from Kieran Trippier. “He's going down,” Trippier told referee Simon Hooper. Sterling took full advantage, lobbing a set-piece over the wall and into the top corner.
With the game in the balance, it all came down to those lapses of concentration that caused Chelsea to collapse so spectacularly. Newcastle took another free-kick in front of Pochettino's defence, stealing the ball from Gordon. Lascelles failed to time his run and header past Robert Sanchez.
Thiago's mistake led to the third goal. He was under slight pressure when Joelinton headed towards him, but one miss and his fellow Brazilian was beaten and the goal was achieved as Sanchez was unable to get into position.
James scored the second goal. The yellow card of the day, when he pulled Gordon back after a mistake, left the Newcastle striker in a dangerous position. And it was Gordon who added the fourth, dribbling the ball into the box and rounding Badiasheel again before firing home.
High five with all sides as Anthony Gordon and Miguel Almiron celebrate. Photo: AFP/Andy Buchanan
The only negative for Newcastle was the revelation that Joe Willock had suffered a recurrence of his Achilles injury, adding to the injury problems of Eddie Howe, whose squad is so stretched that he has benched three goalkeepers.
“This was a very important victory for us, given our position and limited resources,” Howe said. “It says a lot about the character of the team and what lies ahead.”
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