Carabao Cup
Pochettino: Chelsea’s ownership must reconcile data-driven strategy with coaching needs
Pochettino: BlueCo’s data-first recruitment, lack of experienced players limits Chelsea’s progress.
Mauricio Pochettino has laid out a blunt assessment of the upheaval at Chelsea since BlueCo took control, arguing the new direction has altered expectations and hindered short-term results. Now in charge of the USMNT, he discussed those challenges on The Overlap and urged clearer communication between owners and football staff.
Pochettino warned that the club’s shift from a win-now model to a focus on young, high-potential signings has produced few clear successes so far and left supporters unconvinced. “They have a plan that is maybe completely different than what was used to be Chelsea in the past with [former owner Roman] Abramovich,” Pochettino acknowledged. “It’s true that it’s not easy because it’s difficult for people to understand.
“When I’m thinking about a new project, the most important [thing] is how we can translate and to show what is the plan and what we want to achieve with that and how is going to be the process to arrive where we want to arrive. Sometimes, in football, it’s difficult to explain because people don’t listen. They only listen to results.
“And then because there’s too many people making the decisions—football is not an ordinary business—sometimes people struggle. They need to explain the plan.”
Supporters have flagged the squad’s youth: Tosin Adarabioyo is the oldest current player at 28, while Marc Cucurella and Enzo Fernández are 27 and 25. Pochettino said that lack of experience constrained his work in 2023–24. “What I understood [about the plan] didn’t happen after … and maybe I was wrong,” he continued.
He reflected on the progress made under his tenure: the side rose from 12th in the Premier League to sixth, finished the season strongly, reached the Carabao Cup final and lost an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City. “But after, when things didn’t match what was our vision, we said it’s better to split and to give the possibility to the club to do what they want to do.”
Pochettino described how recruitment decisions were often preordained. “When we signed, it was already done, all the signings,” Pochettino acknowledged. “I was involved, I said O.K. when we signed [Axel] Disasi because [Wesley] Fofana was injured in preseason, and Cole Palmer. With these two, we were involved in the decisions.
“It’s more about a philosophic idea that the coaching staff … we need to be involved. We need to be a part—an important part—of the decisions because, if not, it’s not easy.
Calling the shots at Stamford Bridge are co-owner Behdad Eghbali, co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart and recruitment chiefs Joe Shields and Sam Jewell. Pochettino urged owners and recruitment teams to balance data and analysis with coaches’ judgement on passion, pressure handling and tactical fit.
“In the moment that we arrived, we completely supported the club in all the decisions that they already made,” he concluded. “What happened after, I don’t know. If you accept to go to Chelsea, it is more clear after us, the idea of the management of the club.
“I’m not complaining because it was also my decision to leave the club, but I think to understand the new people that arrive, the new ownership, the new football, the new coaches, the new sporting directors, the new everything, we sometimes underestimate the analog things. ]
Arsenal
Arsenal face major selection doubts before Liverpool trip
Arsenal’s injury list is growing before Liverpool, with Rice, Saka, Saliba and others in doubt.
Mikel Arteta has been left juggling a growing list of fitness worries ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Liverpool, with Declan Rice among those under an injury cloud. The midfielder was forced off against Everton last weekend after, in Arteta’s words, he finished with “a problem”, leaving his availability for Sunday’s clash at Anfield uncertain.
Rice is not the only concern. Arteta admitted after Arsenal’s Carabao Cup exit that “Riccardo was out, Noni was out with an ankle and Declan Rice finished with a problem the other day,” underscoring the scale of the issue facing his side.
Some absences, though, are already clearer. Bukayo Saka has joined William Saliba on the list of long-term injuries after damaging his left quad in the Champions League draw with Bayern Munich. Saka is expected to miss at least six weeks and will not be back before the start of December at the earliest.
Saliba’s situation remains less defined. The defender has not played this season since surgery on a persistent back problem that became too much for him at this summer’s World Cup. Arteta has described the signs in his recovery as “very, very positive”, but he has not offered a return date, with the end of November mentioned only as a loose target.
There is also uncertainty around Christos Tzolis. The summer signing picked up a thigh problem while on international duty with Greece in the fall and was ruled out for around three weeks. He may yet have a role on Sunday, but his status remains unresolved.
Elsewhere, Max Dowman will not be able to win Arteta over through the FA, although Arsenal could still try to secure the teenager’s availability by appealing his red card against Fleetwood. The 16-year-old was dismissed for kicking out at Harrison Neal, with the force described as minimal but still enough for a straight red. With no VAR at this stage of the Carabao Cup, Michael Salisbury’s on-field call stood at the time. Dowman was found guilty of violent conduct, which the FA Handbook describes as “when a player uses or attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball.”
Arsenal
Arteta’s anger explained after Dowman’s dismissal against Fleetwood
Arteta’s response to Dowman reflected his wider demand for emotional control under pressure.
Mikel Arteta made no attempt to cushion Max Dowman after the youngster’s first red card in senior football during Arsenal’s disappointing Carabao Cup exit to Fleetwood Town on Tuesday.
It was a difficult night throughout for Arsenal. After falling behind 1-0 in the first half to a goal cheaply surrendered by fellow teenager Marli Salmon, the visitors spent the remainder of the match forcing the issue. They produced 26 shots in all, with seven ending up on target, but the pressure never translated into the result they needed.
Dowman was central to some of the missed opportunities. He first scuffed a clear opening across goal before setting up Kai Havertz for a fine chance that the German failed to convert. Beyond the missed chances, the winger also spent much of the evening coping with a physical challenge from Fleetwood.
Referee Michael Salisbury only awarded one foul against Dowman, and that came in the 85th minute with the score at 1-1. Harrison Neal then launched into a full-blooded challenge near the touchline, scissoring the teenager’s standing leg. Dowman responded by kicking out at the midfielder in the middle of a large confrontation, and Salisbury soon produced a red card.
As Dowman headed down the tunnel, Arteta was heard shouting, with the manager later saying: “We know when we prepare the context of the match, we’re very clear on what to expect,” he added. “Emotionally, we have to dominate, but we’re very clear.”
That reaction fitted a theme that has run through Arteta’s work this season. Emotional control has become one of his repeated messages, alongside the idea that Arsenal must handle the moment rather than be carried away by it.
“Emotional dominance” has been a regular phrase in recent weeks, and Arteta has been clear about what he wants from his side. “We have to be emotionally dominant regardless of what the context is. It’s easy to say, very difficult actually to do,” he said earlier this month.
This was Dowman’s first red card for Arsenal, but his second dismissal of the month. The England U-19 international had already been sent off in a behind-closed-doors friendly against the U.S.
Carabao Cup
Chelsea await scan results after Martínez is stretchered off against Everton
Chelsea are waiting on scan results after Emiliano Martínez was stretchered off with a head injury against Everton.
Chelsea are facing an anxious wait over Emiliano Martínez after the goalkeeper was forced off against Everton with a head injury.
The incident prompted immediate concern. Branthwaite was sat up shortly after, but medical staff rushed on to attend to Chelsea’s stopper, who was visibly in distress on the pitch. After a prolonged spell of treatment, Martínez was taken away on a stretcher and went straight to hospital for scans. As he was leaving the field, he appeared to be moving his arms.
Mike Penders replaced him and became the youngest goalkeeper in Chelsea’s Premier League history. The 21-year-old’s introduction is expected to be the first of many over the coming years, with club officials viewing him as a long-term option.
Chelsea will not be able to set any proper return timeline until the formal diagnosis is known, although it would be a major surprise to see Martínez back before the end of the month at the very least. If the injury proves more serious, his absence could easily stretch beyond that.
The club are now waiting on the scan results to understand the full picture. That uncertainty could also affect Xabi Alonso’s plans for a busy run of fixtures. Tottenham Hotspur visit next weekend, followed by a Carabao Cup tie with Liverpool, a game for which Martínez may have been rested anyway. The month then closes with a meeting with Manchester United before Chelsea travel to Sunderland ahead of the November international break.
Any extended lay-off would hand Penders a significant run in the side. The towering 21-year-old impressed while on loan with Strasbourg last season, and Chelsea opted to keep him at the club this year rather than send him out again. He has already started both of Chelsea’s Carabao Cup matches, and after his debut, a 2–0 win over Luton Town in the second round, Alonso said the Belgian will soon have a major role to play.
