Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino at pains to praise Conor Gallagher amid claims the club will consider selling their academy graduate in January

Mauricio Pochettino was quick to issue a couple of clarifications on Saturday evening. His immediate concern was the context of something he’d said a day earlier, which had been taken to mean that managing Chelsea was akin to sitting in an electric chair.

‘No, I mean for every manager the chair is electric, not Chelsea,’ Pochettino said. It was a worthwhile point to clear up, but then again, no one contested the original. Because why would you? At Stamford Bridge, yanking the lever is what they do. When they flap, they zap.

For all the difficulties of his six months at the club, Pochettino is not yet at the stage where he must plead for mercy, but a victory over Sheffield United at least put some distance between plug and socket.

The second clarification followed questions about Pochettino’s feelings towards one of his key performers on Saturday — Conor Gallagher. It has been persistently suggested that Chelsea will consider selling their academy graduate in January, which would be a baffling decision if it comes to pass. But Pochettino does not appear to be on the same page.

He was unambiguous in his praise for the 23-year-old, even if he did lapse into Shakespeare in admitting it would be his employers who make the big call.

‘It is a decision between the player and the club, to be or not to be,’ he said. ‘He is in the starting XI nearly every game and one of the captains. For me, he is the type of player that the club need to have.

‘He is important because of his Chelsea values. He came from the academy, he loves the club and he is very committed. 

'You can see that on the pitch — he runs, he plays, he fights. He does everything to win. ‘He is a really important player that the coaching staff want to have on the team.’

The outlook of Chelsea’s season won’t change with a win over Sheffield United, but anything less would have snowballed the sense of drama in what had been billed as a crucial four-day period of their campaign. 

The even more meaningful fixture is Tuesday night, when Pochettino’s side face Newcastle in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals. 

That competition is an opportunity for Chelsea to face-lift their season, but so far there is scant evidence to suggest they can string together enough decent performances for a sustained upturn.

On Saturday, they hoovered up almost 80 per cent of possession in the opening 45 minutes, but ultimately that only heightened the frustration of them creating so little with it.

To give Pochettino his due, his tactical tweak at half-time shifted the dynamic of the game, when he swapped Cole Palmer from No 10 and moved him to the right, switching with Raheem Sterling. 

Both drastically improved, with Palmer scoring the first and assisting Nicolas Jackson for the second. Palmer was excellent, but the jury remains out on the wider collective.