Rarely has a manager looked so scowl-faced with his side 4-0 up as Mauricio Pochettino did an hour into Chelsea’s mauling of Everton.

Noni Madueke was starting consecutive Premier League games for the first time this season and managed to win his second penalty in three outings. What he did next may influence whether Pochettino starts him at Wembley in Saturday's FA Cup semi-final versus Manchester City.

The winger tried to take the ball off hat-trick hero and designated penalty-taker Cole Palmer, prompting Nicolas Jackson to act upon his rush of blood and storm over to join in with the handbags. What a clown show.

As injured Everton midfielder and England international Dele rightly pointed out during Sky Sports analysis, nobody else wanted that responsibility when game-defining spot kicks were awarded in stoppage time against Man City and Manchester United.

Pochettino watched on with disturbed emotion and inward anger as his attacking trio engaged in a pushing match during Monday night prime time. All three stayed on the pitch after that incident, despite the hosts holding an unassailable five-goal lead after Palmer won the battle and tucked away his fourth of the night.

"I am so, so upset about the situation," he told reporters after full-time. "Discipline is the most important thing in our team. We all agree they [Jackson and Madueke] were wrong. They are not experienced players. They are young."

He added: "You cannot behave like kids." Perhaps this is the result of boasting an average squad age of 23 years and six months, most of whom have less than three full seasons of Premier League experience.

Pochettino held a stark debrief about the incident in the dressing room following the 6-0 washout, saying that it would be the last time such an incident would happen without punishment. As revealed by eventual penalty-taker Palmer, some laughing and joking took place amongst the players afterwards, but their manager has now set out his stall.

The saga has told Chelsea fans a lot about Pochettino’s approach to discipline at Stamford Bridge. A number of analysts were surprised that he decided not to hook the players involved straight away after the embarrassing on-pitch catfight.

That would have sent a message to both fanbase and squad, but Pochettino decided to go for the ‘not angry but disappointed’ approach. This is nothing new.

Dele revealed on Sky Sports that after he was red-carded for Tottenham during the famous title race run-in of 2016, Pochettino did not reprimand him but instead showed him a clip of himself getting sent off during his playing days as the pair shared a knowing laugh.

His decision to not immediately take off those at fault after the penalty spat on Monday evening will divide opinion, but it is perhaps not out of character. It was undoubtedly an opportunity for Pochettino to be a disciplinarian but he chose not to be.

He did not relent on publicly shaming them in his post-match comments, which will have sent the message. But questions remain over whether the manager has a tight enough grip over the squad.

When Chelsea needed order and discipline in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool, Pochettino was unable to instil that against a bunch of academy starlets. The Blues have recorded the most yellow cards in the Premier League too - 90 in 31 matches.

The Argentine is perhaps looking at the long term. He inherited and nurtured a young squad at Tottenham and almost made them European champions.

Pochettino knows the character of the current Chelsea squad and maybe thinks this is the way to go about ill-discipline in a bid to build that long-lasting relationship. He made that stance somewhat clear against Everton.

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