MAURICIO POCHETTINO has told his Chelsea players exactly how to nullify Everton’s attacking threat when the two sides meet on Sunday.
The Blues boss has strictly instructed his team to avoid giving away cheap free-kicks and corners.
That’s because Everton are statistically the tallest team in the Premier League, boasting an average height of 1.85 metres per player, or just over 6ft.
Pochettino said: “It can be a problem but we need to be more aggressive and we need to avoid conceding chances by corners and giving away free-kicks.
“We need to be clever in the way that we are going to work and try to stop them. But yes, it can be a problem but maybe not.
“You never know because in football it’s about the way you approach the game with your attitude and being clever.
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“It’s about stopping the opponent from using their strengths.”
Pochettino also expressed his frustration at Chelsea’s failure to defend crosses.
Reflecting on the Blues’ 2-1 defeat to Manchester United this week, he went on to add: “Two things that are important to know, we didn’t put pressure on the crosser to try and avoid crosses. If the ball is there, it’s difficult to stop.
“We are working on these types of situations and we need to improve. Conceding this way, I’m not showing too much but I am really upset because we need to work much more.
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“It’s organisation and desire because we need to stop the crosser.
“It’s not a case of ‘it’s not my problem’ because it’s so hard for the defensive line to defend these types of situations once the ball comes in.”
Chelsea’s defeat to Man Utd left them 10th in the Premier League table, 11 points adrift of the top four.
Meanwhile, Everton jumped out of the relegation zone for the first time since their 10-point deduction on Thursday with a 3-0 win over Newcastle.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
