What Mauricio Pochettino shouted at Christopher Nkunku in Chelsea's draw vs Newcastle United
It certainly felt like the 'cut-off' pre-season game for Chelsea against Newcastle United. That, probably, is the last game where Mauricio Pochettino will experiment so much, with the remaining two matches preparing for the season ahead.
It was game three of five of the Blues' tour of the United States – one that ended in a 1-1 draw versus the Magpies. It was a very intense and frantic first-half, and it was easy to forget that it was a pre-season encounter because of the high standards being set, with both goals coming in the opening 45 minutes.
The ever-impressive Nicolas Jackson opened the scoring for Chelsea on 12 minutes. The 22-year-old striker ran behind the Newcastle defence to latch onto the end of a ball played brilliantly by Ian Maatsen. A calm finish in front of goal gave Jackson his second in as many matches.
The Magpies, though, equalised on the stroke of half-time with former Atlanta winger Miguel Almiron finding the bottom corner which led to a massive roar from his adoring supporters. That turned out to be the final goal of the game, with the second-half settling down a lot more and feeling like more of a pre-season match between the two Premier League rivals.
Yet again, there was some interesting tactical decisions from Pochettino as he continues to get to grips with his new squad. He started Christopher Nkunku as the No.10 behind Jackson in a 4-2-3-1 formation but he was not always happy with what he saw from the former.
In the first 'one-minute hydration break', took on 25 minutes into the match, Pochettino was getting his point across to Nkunku. The cameras and microphones meant we were able to hear some of the stuff that the Argentine told Nkunku.
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