Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino says he was “so angry” about the dispute over who would take the penalty in their 6-0 win over Everton and has warned his players not to do it again.
Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke argued over who would take a penalty, which Cole Palmer scored for his fourth goal.
“I cannot accept this kind of behavior,” Pochettino said.
“I told them this is the last time I want to see this kind of behavior.”
He added: “It is impossible to show this kind of behavior after this performance. If we want to be a great team, we have to change and think in a collective way.”
Palmer won a penalty for the Blues and is their regular taker, making this his ninth successful penalty of the season.
But Madueke initially took the ball and did not want to hand it over to Palmer. Captain Conor Gallagher took the ball from him and handed it to the England international. But Jackson then came around and tried to take the ball from Palmer, who had to push the striker away before he could put the ball on the spot.
Pochettino said afterwards that all players know that Palmer is the designated penalty taker.
“The penalty taker is Palmer. It is Palmer who has to decide whether to give the ball to a teammate. It is important to resolve this. They realize it now,” said the Argentine.
“It’s a shame. It’s a process for a young team that has a lot to learn. I would like to apologize to the fans.
“They have to learn and be professional. We have to be focused on the collective. It is a clear example that it is a process that we still have to learn.”
Palmer himself tried to downplay the incident afterwards.
“Other players wanted to take it, but I am the penalty taker and I wanted to take it,” said the ex-Manchester City player.
“I think we’re showing that everyone wants to take responsibility. It might be a bit of an exaggeration, but everyone wants to win – we laugh and joke about it.”
Everton midfielder Dele Alli, who watched the match for Sky Sports as he continues his recovery from a long-term injury, saw it differently.
This was Palmer’s second straight home hat-trick, having scored a 100th-minute penalty in a 4–3 win over Manchester United earlier this month.
“These are them showing their age. I’m not on the training pitch every day, but as far as I know in their last big match, in the last minute when the pressure was on, I didn’t see them all fighting for it then grab it,” he said.
“It’s okay if it’s 4-0 and you all want to get on the scoresheet.”
