Pochettino fumes with referee at half time as Chelsea thrash Wrexham in pre-season friendly

Mauricio Pochettino fumes with a referee at half time as Chelsea thrash Wrexham 5-0 in a pre-season friendly out in America.

The new Blues boss got into an angry confrontation during his first game in charge against the League Two outfit running onto the pitch at the interval.

The Argentine boss saw his side lead 2-0 at the break in North Carolina, but his temper got the better of him on the bench when he furiously complained to the official for blowing the whistle earlier than expected. Yep, he’s not messing about this pre-season.

Ian Maatsen, who has just come back from enduring a loan spell at Burnley, netted a first half brace. However, Pochettino was fuming when the whistle blew.

He ran on to the pitch to furiously take aim at the official for blowing his whistle earlier than expected just as his side was making a promising counter-attack when the referee blew.

Poch arguing with the referee at half-time.

He was spitting when he said there are no friendlies, you have to win every game.

He’s bringing Chelsea back to the top. pic.twitter.com/93HXFoFtYy

— Futbol Chelsea (@FutbolCheIsea) July 20, 2023

Pochettino, who was rather animated on the touchline throughout the first half, spoke with the ref to vent out his frustration at that attack being cut-short. He then calmed down and placed his arm around the official.

Chelsea were just a dominant in the second half with Conor Gallagher getting a third with 10 minutes remaining.

New striker Nkunku score his first for the Blues since arriving from RB Leipzig for £52million. Ben Chilwell made it 5-0 deep into injury-time.

Line-ups:

Wrexham: Foster (Lainton 46), O’Connell (Hayden 46), Tozer (Cleworth 61), O’Connor (Young 61), Forde (Barnett 46), Cannon (Boyle 46), J.Jones (Davies 61), Lee (McAlinden 61), Mendy (McFadzean 46), Dalby (Palmer 61), Mullin (Waters 61)

Chelsea: Cumming (Bergstrom 77′), Gusto (Gilchrist 46′), Chalobah ( Cucurella 85′), Humphreys, Cucurella (Chilwell 46′), Santos (Hall 64′), Casadei , Chukwuemeka (Gallagher 46′), Moreira (Gabriel 46′), Maatsen (Sterling 46′), Jackson (Nkunku 46′)

Subs: Arrizabalaga and Silva,

Referee: Marcos de Oliveira

Attendance: 50,596

Bookings:

Chelsea: Casadei (59, foul)

INTERVIEWS:

Phil Parkinson said: “For us, it’s about pre-season progression. We’re two and a half weeks away from the season starting and physically it’s a good workout for those who get on the pitch.

“We want to make sure that the physical data is high, where it needs to be, and comparable to where it should be when the season starts.

“We’re up against a top-class team and it might be an evening where they have more possession than we do, which is great because we can work on our structure without the ball.

“We played Manchester United last season at their training ground, and it was a fantastic exercise for us, and I expect tomorrow night [speaking on Tuesday] to be no different.

“We had a few of the staff who are with us on this trip that went over to the tournament, and nobody really knew what to expect.

“They got a real feel for it, and they said there was good support for Wrexham in the area which is fantastic for us.

“It made us even more eager to get over here and be a part of it.

“We’ve had a couple of chats with the lads about the trip and embracing each area that we are in. We want them to find out what the area is all about.

“We had a talk last night in the hotel with the lady who is co-ordinating the trip about the University and the surrounding area.

“Sometimes when you go on these trips, you go to the training ground and come back, and people will ask you what was it like and you’ll say I don’t know I didn’t see it.

“I really don’t want that to happen on this trip because I want them to get the most out of each day with training, but also so we’ve got a story to tell when we get back.”

Pochettino said: ‘Like always after a pre-season game, I’m happy because of the attitude. But, of course, it is time to improve.

‘I think it is part of the process in this period to learn in the way we want to play and, of course, build the physical condition also. I am happy with the performance.

‘I think the most important thing now is to get positive feelings and to start to play again after the holidays. All the players came in at different levels and now it is about putting them all at similar levels to try to compete for the season.

‘It is good to have the opportunity to see all these young guys who can show their quality. It is important for them and for us to have a real assessment. For sure all have quality, they need time and space to show they can compete for a place in the squad.

‘The profile is very good, the two names and Carney (Chukwuemeka). They have the profile, only they need time.

‘They are young and we cannot forget we are in Chelsea, the pressure is always to win. They need to have the place, to have time to evolve. But yes, the profile is good.’

Fans reacted as Pochettino fumes with at a referee at half time as Chelsea thrash Wrexham in a pre-season friendly…

@Cfc_zayd: He wasn’t kidding when he said we are serious

@cfcyusaf: love his mentality he believes we put up a good performance but he wants us to do better at the same time we are serious 🤩

@CarefreeLewisG: It felt so fucking good to watch Chelsea play with pride, stamina, intensity, belief, passing patterns, and good interplay again. Its only Wrexham but that was needed 😍

@mbsmith1980: This is more passion than Jose or TT showed in pre-season, if poch delivers half of those 2 then we are in good hands.

@QueenSandy_CFC: We missed a manager like this 🥹 Chelsea are back!

@LucasFRANKSSSSS: That is it, so happy with all the player attitude

@bigwelshboyo: Good 90mins under the belt, not scoreline we wanted for the fans (and they were wrexham fans), but onwards to the next game. We won’t be facing a Chelsea e ery week in L2 so testing ourselves against good quality teams will only be a benefit for the coming season. Well done, Reds

@tommyshuffle1: Tell you what how class must it be for the players. Mendy part time a few years ago, Cleworth and Davies from the academy and the likes of Youngy and Lainton there for our worst ever years. All now playing Chelsea in front of 50+ thousand in America 🤣

@WestWrexham: Not the best of scorelines for us in the end, but there’s been some solid football from Wrexham today. Some solid rust knocked off as well. A good first game back against a tough competitor, plenty to be proud of, albeit w/ a few mistakes in the last 15. #WxmAFC #WxmUSTour

@WonderboyWXM: FA Trophy champions you will never sing that!!!

@Mallyburrows1: Thought Wrexham did well two injury time goals made it look a bit harsh Chelsea had a lot of big players on at end prob £400 mil worth take out the positives ⚽️👏🏻

@Jon_hughes1: They were fitter and sharper and cost millions but we matched for patches and asked questions. Lessons to be learned and we march on.

@RhysCFC_: Let the standard drop at the end, story of a few games last season, just lucky that it didn’t cost Wrexham in the end, lots of positives to take from the game, but it does show a need to get some transfers in certain positions before the start of the season

@FGroundhopper: Proud of the shift the team put in tonight against such a class team like Chelsea 👏. Parky will be proud!.

@welshinema: Good run out and a lot of positives to take from the game, we go again and keep improving

@Lukeyboy_CFC: Thanks for the stroll in the park, but honestly good luck for the season lads 💙

@Dalt_CFC: Well done lads, hope you smash it next season 🤝

@Twitiot_: I mean, no one expected a W tonight, but the next match against galaxy 2 will probably be more competitive and a chance to give your state side supporters something to be happy about.