Fulham player Tom Cairney has now stated that he was surprised at one thing Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino did this week.

He told ‘The Footballer’s Football Podcast’ that he was surprised with one of the comments the Argentine made before the Blues took on Arsenal in the Premier League this week.

Pochettino has seen pressure rise even further on him following the damning 5-0 defeat by the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium.

Pochettino really missing Palmer

The boss was notably unable to select Cole Palmer for his side for the first time in quite a while, and he clearly couldn’t come up with a scenario as to compete without him.

Before the game, Pochettino stated that he was hoping to see his side prove that they were ‘Chelsea FC’ and not ‘Cole Palmer FC’.

Things didn’t go to plan though, and the confidence of the surrounding players will likely now be on the floor.

Cairney has stated that he isn’t really sure why the manager made the comments that he did, saying he can’t remember an example of this happening before.

He said: “I’m surprised he [Pochettino] said that [Cole Palmer FC] in his pre-match thing anyway to be fair. Are we Cole Palmer FC? I don’t think you can say that anyway. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Pep say when he had Messi, we’re just a Messi team.”

Pochettino will thankfully be able to welcome back Palmer this weekend as he takes his team up to Villa Park desperate to get some points on the board.

However, his return is a piece of good news that was quickly countered by some bad news, with Raheem Sterling and Carney Chukwuemeka being added to the list of players who are currently ruled out due to injury.

They join the likes of Reece James and Levi Colwill who are not fit right now, however the manager did offer a positive update on the English duo in his recent pre-match press conference.

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