Daniel Sturridge believes Mauricio Pochettino made a big mistake in how he planned at the end of Chelsea’s game against Manchester City. Rodri scored late in the game for City, after Raheem Sterling scored for Chelsea. City had a lot of the ball throughout the game, which Chelsea enjoyed since it allowed them to create scoring opportunities when City lost possession. But according to Sturridge, Pochettino made some tactical mistakes.
Daniel Sturridge slams Mauricio Pochettino
Ex-Chelsea player Daniel Sturridge says Mauricio Pochettino is to blame for letting Manchester City control the game at the end of Saturday’s 1-1 draw at the Etihad. When Chelsea was winning 1-0, Pochettino replaced Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer with Christopher Nkunku and Trevoh Chalobah in the last 20 minutes to try to keep the lead. Then he also replaced Nicolas Jackson with Cesare Casadei shortly after.
Those choices didn’t really make things better for Chelsea. Rodri scored for Man City, making the game level, after City kept attacking a lot. Sturridge said after the game that it was Pochettino’s fault for taking off his attackers. He said Pochettino’s changes helped Pep Guardiola’s team instead.
“See for me, things are going nice, counter attacks, chops and changes, combinations, all these types of things. I’m thinking as the attacker we can get more chances. They didn’t have a shot after 70 minutes. They had gone to five at the back,” Sturridge said to Sky Sports.
Daniel Sturridge faults Pochettino's subs: "See for me, things are going nice, counter attacks, chops and changes, combinations, all these types of things.
I’m thinking as the attacker we can get more chances. They didn’t have a shot after 70 minutes. They had gone to five at… pic.twitter.com/WE8XYS97rI
— Vince™ (@Blue_Footy) February 17, 2024
“They were so threatening in the second-half with Jackson still doing his thing and the two most threatening players [Sterling and Palmer] came off the pitch!” he added.
Pochettino later explained why he made those decisions.
“It was in a moment when we needed to try and score the second. I think we decide to not give too much space to them and bring another centre-back on. Playing with a back four they find a good channel and we wanted to try and stop this run. It was difficult because we were not able to score the second goal and they got the goal and the draw. In the second half I think they dominated and they forced us to defend deeper. I think we sustained the effort and had some chances to win the game. I am so happy. It is a good draw for us and when you face this type of team I think it is important to be brave and fight in every aspect,” Pochettino said.
