Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino says “something” ahead of his side’s game against west London rivals Fulham had an impact on their performance.
The Blues won 1-0 thanks to Cole Palmer’s first-half penalty but Pochettino says an issue before the game meant the performance in the first 45 minutes was not as he expected, though would not go into details about what the problem was.
“The first half wasn’t the first half that we planned, he said. “Something happened before the game that I cannot explain. I think that it affected the team a little bit.
“We started the second half really good. I think we played really good football for 30 minutes and should score another goal or one or two and kill the game.
“When the game is open like this and you don’t kill the game, always in the last minutes we concede a few actions, set pieces and wide free kicks and they have good potential in these situations.
“We defended well and I think it was good for us to suffered a bit at the end. I think this type of game will make us grow and to build confidence in the way we are working.”
And pushed on the details of the incident, Pochettino added: “No, no. Nothing. Nothing, sorry. It’s nothing big. Small details that sometimes effect the team.
“You need to know that something affected the performance in my opinion but it’s not important for you or our fans to know, sorry.”
