Carabao Cup offers ray of hope for Pochettino and Chelsea

LONDON — The celebrations revealed much more than Chelsea's performance. For most of Tuesday night's Carabao Cup quarter-final, the Blues were a familiar sight: wandering in defense, heavy in possession and largely toothless in attack.

Trailing Callum Wilson's 16th-minute goal – the result of calamitous defending – Chelsea were moving away from a winnable competition and looking to spend £1bn in 18 months and be left with just the FA Cup to play.

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Enter Kieran Trippier. The 33-year-old has been a hugely reliable player for Newcastle and England, but he is in miserable form and within a matter of minutes he gifted Mykhailo Mudryk his equalizer in stoppage time and then missed the penalty shootout. -1 draw ended in a 4-2 victory which allowed Chelsea to qualify for the semi-finals.

Pochettino greeted the equalizer with raucous celebrations on the touchline, perhaps only surpassed the moment Matt Ritchie saw his shot on goal saved by Djordje Petrovic to send the home side into the last four. Bear hugs and shouts of “vamos” followed as the Chelsea players embarked on what has become a sort of habitual appreciation tour, but never with this vigour, with Pochettino leaving early while shaking his arms at the sound of “Freed From Desire” by Gala.

It's been a difficult season for everyone at Stamford Bridge and shared experiences like this can have a galvanizing effect on a team still getting to know each other after being brought together in the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital era.

“It’s important, these kinds of games, [for] the way we managed to qualify for the semi-finals,” Pochettino said. “Like when it matters when we don't play well like Everton and Newcastle away. [losing both Premier League games]it’s understanding where we need to improve.

“I think both are really important, we feel about this group the way we want to evolve and our ideas.

“Of course, I'm very happy because when you see the whole team, the players who didn't play in the match, the players who were injured but want to share the happiness in the middle of the field, it seems like we We're a healthy group of players that just needs time.

“We have to guide them, create a platform for them and help them improve every day. Of course, over time, I think we will create a very good team that can compete, increase the competition and to be where Chelsea should be.”

This place is still far away. It was a modest stepping stone in terms of Chelsea's overall performance. Newcastle were missing 10 players and looked fatigued by a grueling schedule including their first Champions League group stage campaign in 21 years. Chelsea themselves had nine absentees and a 10th after Enzo Fernández left the match after 32 minutes due to illness.

They could have lost Moisés Caicedo much earlier – in the second minute – after a bad tackle on Anthony Gordon only resulted in a yellow card, but as VAR was not used in this competition, the Ecuadorian has escaped further scrutiny. Conor Gallagher hit the crossbar after seven minutes and a promising Chelsea start was canceled out by some wacky defending in which Caicedo and Thiago Silva were at fault before Benoit Badiashile spared both their blushes by tripping over the ball to allow Wilson a free shot on goal. .

Chelsea worked towards parity. With 21 minutes remaining, Pochettino turned for a £52m signing Christopher Nkunku for his debut, delayed by a knee injury suffered in pre-season. It was difficult circumstances in which to throw it, but Pochettino had little alternative given silverware was slipping away from them. And just when all seemed lost, substitute Malo Gusto fired in a cross that Trippier chose to head aimlessly into a central area, allowing Mudryk to pounce.

Cole Palmer, Gallagher, Nkunku and Mudryk scored while Trippier and Richie missed and suddenly Chelsea could hope for a home-and-away semi-final in January.

Pochettino can now take the positives from what threatened to be a chaste night. The trophy is not within their reach – Liverpool remain clear favorites – but the absence of Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Aston Villa and others from the last four makes it look like it is within their reach.

On an individual level, Nkunku converted his penalty, Petrovic saved one to bolster his effort and prove he was a capable replacement for the injured Robert Sánchez, and the much-maligned Mudryk scored his third Chelsea goal.

“We are talking about young players, players who arrived and were injured like Christoph,” Pochettino said. “Now they need competition, they need playing time to start performing. The expectation is to see the best Nkunku. We need time for him to play the way we hope. One thing is to be available, another is to perform as we hope.”

Chelsea are still not putting in the performances many expected, but it is hugely helpful for a manager trying to establish himself like Pochettino that silverware remains a distinct possibility.