Mauricio Pochettino U-turned on Chelsea dressing room ban before Villa speech

Mauricio Pochettino has seemingly U-turned on a ban he wanted in place at Chelsea. Co-owner Behdad Eghbali entered the dressing room following Sunday’s loss to Aston Villa, something the Argentine coach was reportedly not keen to let happen before he took the job.

Chelsea’s miserable start to the season continued at Stamford Bridge. Ollie Watkins scored the only goal of the game as Villa ran out 1-0 winners to condemn the hosts to a third defeat in six games.

Controlling owner Todd Boehly made a habit of going into the dressing room after poor results last season to speak to the players. It was Eghbali’s turn to do just that at the weekend.

Fabrizio Romano claims Eghbali spoke to the squad to reassure them of the project in place despite picking up just five points from the opening six matches. However, that goes against what Pochettino is said to have wanted in initial talks before taking the job.

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Mauricio Pochettino reviews Aston Villa game

ESPN FC claimed in April that Pochettino did not want members of the hierarchy to interfere with the playing side. It was reported that the former Spurs coach made it clear that he would not be happy with dressing room appearances from the likes of Boehly and Eghbali.

Pochettino did not start in his role as Chelsea head coach until July. He was swiftly asked about the situation and said he wanted the owners to ask beforehand if they wanted to enter the dressing room, ensuring there was a line between on and off-field matters.

Pochettino said: “Of course for me, more than welcome if the owner comes to the dressing room, to the training ground, but like I said, always they need to communicate myself, I need to know and to prepare, you know, the people… because here it’s really special this type of thing in England.

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“Maybe in other countries it’s different, but here it’s this way, the coach or the head coach or the manager have some influence in all the football club for the fans, for the players for the staff for everyone, and for the media also, and of course altogether we need to create this.

“We are there to guide, to guide all the people that are involved in this football club, to try to create the best performing, to try and work and perform in the best way. For me, I am more than happy if they are close to us.

“They are the owners but it is the coach, the head coach or the manager who decides [certain] things, how it’s going to work in the dressing room, in the pitch and in the training ground. Also with the sporting director, altogether, to create the line.”

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