Chelsea close in on unwanted Premier League record held by Leeds... but newfound maturity following a video intervention from Mauricio Pochettino bodes well for the future

One of Mauricio Pochettino’s methods for improving his young Chelsea players’ maturity this season involved a video session in December. The squad were sat down at Cobham and shown a series of clips which the manager described as ‘silly’ yellow cards.

Naturally, Nicolas Jackson featured, having picked up seven Premier League cautions by that time, only one of which was considered understandable for a foul to kill a counter-attack against Tottenham. As did Reece James and Raheem Sterling, each booked for needlessly kicking away the ball at Newcastle. Enzo Fernandez committed the same petty crime against Brighton, a game in which Conor Gallagher was shown a second yellow.

Pochettino reminded his players that the Premier League had ‘changed the rules’ – that they will be punished for any misdemeanours, from kicking away the ball to blocking free-kicks from being taken to complaining to referees to pushing an opponent.

It was a topic brought up in subsequent team meetings as Pochettino tried to make sure this mindset stuck with his squad. Cautions are inevitable in competitive football, they were told, but there is a right way and a wrong way to receive them from card-happy referees.

To their credit, this message seems to have eventually seeped through.

Since the turn of the year, Chelsea have kept their misconduct to a minimum. They can still lose control of their emotions – like how Benoit Badiashile and Noni Madueke were cautioned for protesting their disallowed winner at the end of the 2-2 draw at Aston Villa – but the behavioural change throughout the team has been noticeable.

Even in the game immediately after Villa – a 2-0 victory against Tottenham which resumed a rivalry on the anniversary of the Battle of the Bridge – they did not pick up a single booking. In the 5-0 win over West Ham, only Marc Cucurella was carded for killing a counter.

It is a stark improvement from the dissent-dominated nature of the first half of the campaign.

And yet, Chelsea find themselves closing in on an unwanted Premier League record after the damage that was largely done earlier in the season. With three games to go, they are sitting on 98 yellow cards, only three shy of equalling the total of 101 set by Leeds in 2021-22.

Pochettino’s players will need to be on their best behaviour to avoid becoming the new champions of cautions, starting with Saturday’s trip to Nottingham Forest.

It will not be easy, at a time when emotions are running high with Chelsea fighting for European football, but Pochettino will feel the maturity shown in the second half of the season bodes well for the future.