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.
Everyone s…
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…
West Bromwich Albion defender Craig Dawson has signed a new three-year deal with the club, .
The 24 year old, who signed from Rochdale in 2011, has formed a solid defensive partnership with new signing Joleon Lescott in the last two games which has helped the club keep back to back clean sheets in the league for the first time since April 2012.
Prior to this season, the former England U21 international had made just twenty-one league appearances for the Baggies, though he has been an ever-present so far under Alan Irvine and scored his first goal for the club with the opener in Sunday’s 4-0 thrashing of bottom-of-the-table Burnley.
That result saw the Midland club climb to tenth place in the Premier League, though they face a tough trip to Anfield next time…
While all eyes will be on the England v Italy match on day 3 of the 2014 World Cup, Uruguay and Costa Rica will square off in Fortaleza, with both sides hoping to keep their qualifying chances alive before they face the two European powerhouses.
Having arrived in Brazil with virtually the same squad that reached the 2010 World Cup semi-final and won the 2011 Copa America, Uruguay are regarded as hot favourites to defeat Costa Rica and put extra pressure on their rivals for the top two positions.
Seeing as how boss Oscar Tabarez doesn t want to risk crocked Luis Suarez in the opening match, Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan are set to start up front, and it is important to note . The 35-year-old has so far scored 6 goals in 8 World Cup matches.
…
Former Everton captain Phil Neville believes Romelu Lukaku has what it takes to improve Manchester United following the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Everton star Lukaku is believed to be on the verge of reuniting with United manager Jose Mourinho following widespread reports of a £75million bid for the 24-year-old Belgium international striker.
Antonio Conte and Chelsea were reportedly frontrunners for Lukaku – who scored 25 goals in the league last season as he finished behind Golden Boot winner Harry Kane – but United appear to have hijacked the Premier League champions in their move.
A switch to Old Trafford would see Lukaku team up with Mourinho again after he was sold by the then-Chelsea boss to Everton in 2014, while uniting him with close friend P…
Roma have added to their goalkeeping stocks after announcing the signing of Brazil international Alisson.
Alisson joins from Brazilian outfit Internacional on a five-year deal for a fee of €8million.
He made a total of 83 appearances in all competitions for Internacional, winning the Campeonato Gaucho with the club four times in a row between 2013 and 2016.
The 23-year-old has also established himself as Brazil s first-choice goalkeeper since making his international debut last October.
He played all three games of the recent Copa America Centenario in the United States as Brazil crashed out in the group stages.
Alisson is expected to fight for the number-one goalkeeper spot with Wojciech Szczesny, who is tipped to rejoin the club after s…
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has dismissed the reports that some tabloids have put forth regarding Kepa Arrizabalaga and the Spaniard leaving the club in the summer.
Having arrived to Stamford Bridge in 2018 as the world s most expensive goalkeeper, Kepa has lost his place between the posts to veteran Willy Caballero. The 38-year-old is likely to continue his starting spell when Chelsea face Bournemouth today (Saturday), but speaking to the press ahead of the game, Lampard was adamant that Kepa s future is still some way from being decided.
The former England midfielder made it clear that Kepa still has a chance of regaining his place in the team, and pointed out that the situation is the same with any player though one individual cannot be expected to influence the colle…
Paris Saint-Germain have become another option for Philippe Coutinho s destination, according to Sport.
Coutinho left Liverpool to join Barcelona in January 2018. But before that happened, PSG star Neymar apparently bombarded his international teammate to ignore Barcelona s summons and to join him at the Parc des Princes instead. In the end, Coutinho chose to follow his dream and sign for the Catalans, but now his time at Camp Nou is up.
This season he has been loaned to Bayern Munich, but with the Bavarians unwilling to make the deal permanent, Barcelona are trying to find another solution and part ways with the 27-year-old attacking midfielder. They are apparently discussing a loan deal with Chelsea, but the report claims PSG could make a move too if they are unable t…