Mauricio Pochettino revealed “some Chelsea players did not sleep” before their Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool in February.
The Blues boss said the high expectations of the occasion impacted individuals in the squad prior to their late 1-0 defeat to Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Pochettino believes the experience of playing at Wembley will help prevent a repeat of such problems if his team advance into the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC)
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s quarter-final clash with Leicester, Pochettino said: “The expectations can be so high and low and the mood (of the players) depends on the day.“For us to beat Leicester will be massive for us because there is a possibility for this team to play at Wemb…
FIFA is set to examine reports on two separate instances of alleged racism in international matches played on Monday.
The Republic of Ireland Under-21s’ match against Kuwait Under-22s in Austria was called off after an allegation that a Kuwaiti player racially abused one of Ireland’s substitutes.
The senior international between New Zealand and Qatar, also in Austria, was cut short after the New Zealand Football Association said one of its players, Michael Boxall, had a racist remark directed at him in the first half by a Qatari opponent.
Even though the Ireland match was a tier two friendly and not requiring formal FIFA approval to be played, the fact that the Football Association of Ireland said in a tweet on Monday evening it would be reporting the matter …
Fiorentina striker Giuseppe Rossi has hit out at claims that he was omitted from Italy s FIFA World Cup squad because he was not fully fit.
The 27-year-old suffered the latest in a series of serious injuries when he damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in January.
Rossi recovered in time to be named in Cesare Prandelli s provisional 30-man squad, and was involved in the 0-0 warm-up draw with the Republic of Ireland on Saturday.
However, Rossi suffered the heartbreak of being excluded from Prandelli s final 23-man party for the marquee tournament in Brazil, which was announced on Sunday.
Rossi has since taken to social media website Twitter to deny that his omission was due to concerns over fitness or his psychological mindset.
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A bullet has been posted to Celtic manager Neil Lennon, just one day after he was attacked on the touchline during a game against Hearts.
Police officers were called to Celtic Park on Thursday, and a spokeswoman for Strathclyde Police confirmed they were investigating the incident.
On Wednesday night, police arrested the man who charged at Lennon and attempted to wrestle him to the ground during his side s 3-0 away win over Hearts.
Edinburgh man John Wilson appeared in court on Thursday charged with breach of the peace aggravated by religious prejudice, and assault aggravated by religious prejudice, but he did not enter a plea and was remanded in custody.
Two men, aged 41 and 43, are also being held by police over a separate incident in which parcel bomb…