Ian Wright was not too impressed with one substitution Mauricio Pochettino made in Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final yesterday.
Mauricio Pochettino decided to take Raheem Sterling off for Christopher Nkunku in the 67th minute and Ian Wright, speaking on Wrighty’s House, thinks the Chelsea manager made a mistake withdrawing the winger so early.
Sterling showed some threat in the first half, scoring a goal that was disallowed because of Nicolas Jackson being marginally offside in the build-up.
The 29-year-old did manage to net in Chelsea’s previous game against his old side Manchester City, who sold him to the Carabao Cup finalists in 2022 for £50m (BBC Sport).
Sterling was certainly not at his best yesterday, but Nkunku was not too effective when he came on either.
Ian Wright thinks Mauricio Pochettino took Raheem Sterling off too early
Nkunku is a quality forward, so it is no surprise that Pochettino wanted to get him on the pitch as Chelsea chased a winning goal.
However, for Wright, sacrificing Sterling before the 70-minute mark was a questionable decision.
On the England international’s withdrawal from the game, the Arsenal legend said: “I probably wouldn’t have taken off Sterling at that stage.”
Should Mauricio Pochettino have left Raheem Sterling on the pitch a bit longer?
Again, it was not Sterling’s greatest game. Gary Neville was critical of one decision the Chelsea wide man made in the first half.
However, even when Sterling is not playing terrifically, the former City man is able to pop up in the right place to score a goal.
We saw that with his disallowed tap in in the final yesterday. Bearing that in mind, just because Sterling has that threat, it probably would have been worth keeping him on the pitch for a little bit longer.
Pochettino wanted to get Nkunku on the pitch, though, and finished with an attack of the Frenchman, Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke. In the end, it proved futile.
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