Mauricio Pochettino claims Todd Boehly would 'kill him' if he ignored Chelsea team demand

Mauricio Pochettino joked that Todd Boehly would ‘kill him” if he were to ignore one Chelsea demand.

Despite squandering a two-goal lead against Arsenal to claim a draw, Chelsea have had an upturn in form in recent weeks.

Pochettino inspired his side to three successive wins in all competitions before the Arsenal encounter, with the stark improvement in the Blues’ performances having been inspired by the likes of Cole Palmer and Mykhailo Mudryk.

Moreover, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo are beginning to tick in midfield together - two players each signed for over £100million.

And Pochettino joked after the Arsenal draw that Chelsea co-owner Boehly "would kill him" if Fernandez and Caicedo had not featured against Mikel Arteta’s side.

There had been suggestions that the pair would be handed a rest for the game, given they had only returned from the international break in South America on Wednesday.

"It's crazy for players to come back from South America on Wednesday and play on Saturday," the Argentine said.

“But if I say 'OK, I’m going to give them a rest' you [the media] will kill me, for sure if they don't play - and the owner also!

"Caicedo and Enzo arrived after two games in America and they were not fresh. But they are important players for us.

“It's really tough to arrive like that. I hope now they can recover and train and in one week be at their best."

Speaking on his side's performance, Pochettino continued: "We were facing a team that last season was really close to winning the Premier League. Then they invested and added players to make their squad stronger. They are a very good team.

"We are maybe at the beginning of our project and that is why we have to take positive things. I think we competed really well and after 77 minutes of the game, we had been better and hadn’t conceded too many chances. That is a credit to the team and we need to only go forward in a positive way."

SPORTbible are on WhatsApp! We've launched a dedicated news channel to send you the latest news, features and plenty more directly on WhatsApp and all you need to do to sign up is click through to our one-way broadcast channel here for 'SPORTbible News' to appear in the 'Updates' tab on your WhatsApp.

Topics: Football, Arsenal, Chelsea, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Mauricio Pochettino, Todd Boehly

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.