“If you start him you will lose” “Disrespectful player” – William Gallas warns Pochettino against starting 22-years-old Chelsea star ahead of Arsenal clash
Chelsea star Noni Madueke has come under fire from William Gallas, who has encouraged Mauricio Pochettino to bench him for Tuesday’s match against Arsenal.
Gallas, a former player for Chelsea, is upset with Madueke for what he did following the Blues’ FA Cup semifinal loss to Manchester City on Saturday.
When the west Londoners play Arsenal at the Emirates again, Gallas hopes that Pochettino will completely remove Madueke from the team.
‘Behind Thiago Silva, [he] was joking with Jack Grealish,’ Gallas told Lord Ping when quizzed about Madueke’s actions at Wembley this weekend.
‘Someone needs to explain to me how Madueke can behave like this. Someone tell me why Madueke was smiling.
‘You’ve just lost the semi-final. You don’t share a joke with your friend on the pitch after you’ve just lost a game of this magnitude
‘I was shocked by Madueke’s reaction. It upsets me a lot. The Madueke incident just shows you that this Chelsea team lacks maturity.
‘I’m sorry. I don’t understand it. You’ve just lost your last chance of a trophy and you’re smiling? Don’t you care?
‘Thiago is a 39-year-old – he’s won it all – and he’s in tears. Then you see a young boy who is 22 and he’s making a joke!
‘It’s difficult for me to understand [how a player can do this]. Noni Madueke should know better.
‘I don’t know what is going to happen with Noni Madueke after this. I think the club and the manager have to stand up and take the responsibility and discipline the player.
‘I’m sorry. He shouldn’t be in the squad for the Arsenal game. There are so many cameras that film absolutely everything on the pitch.
‘After losing a semi-final, it was not the time to have a joke with your friend on the pitch. I’m sorry.
‘This isn’t about older generations or new generations of players and the differences between them. There will be a lot of people who were offended by his actions, it won’t just be me.
‘Thiago Silva has won everything! This was one of the few trophies he hasn’t won, and he wanted to win it. That is why he was so upset.
‘Madueke hasn’t won many trophies in his career and he is smiling because of a joke with Grealish. It shows the difference in mentality between Thiago Silva and Madueke – one has the warrior mentality and the other less so.’