Chelsea were able to come back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Newcastle United, but former Blue Pat Nevin was not impressed with everything he saw from Enzo Maresca’s side.
Chelsea looked set for another miserable afternoon at St James’ Park when Nick Woltemade put Newcastle 1-0 up in just the fourth minute before doubling their lead shortly after.
However, goals from Reece James and Joao Pedro saw the visitors mount a comeback and earn one point.
A difficult afternoon, but resilience shown by Chelsea 🙌
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Nevin is a huge admirer of James and has had some very positive things to say about him in the past.
Pat Nevin working as a pundit for the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Pat Nevin slams Chelsea for not playing until the whistle against Newcastle
One thing that Nevin did not like seeing from James’ teammates during their 2-2 draw with Newcastle was their failure to play until the whistle.
There was one moment in the game when Cole Palmer was challenged and instead of carrying on, Chelsea players stopped and asked for a foul.
While commentating on the match for the BBC, Nevin said: “Chelsea were beginning to dominate, but that question about arrogance, Cole Palmer went down and it’s up to the referee to stop the game. But Chelsea just stopped! This is under 11s stuff. You carry on until the referee stops the game. Terrible again from Chelsea.”
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Three national team captains recently voted for Palmer to win The Best FIFA Men’s Player award, reminding everyone of his quality.
However, the attacking midfielder is still getting back up to speed after spending a lot of time on the sidelines this season.
Cole Palmer of Chelsea looks on during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Chelsea
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Pat Nevin’s criticism warranted
Looking at several of Chelsea’s games in the current campaign, Nevin probably has a point. Too often you see Enzo Fernandez on the ground asking for a foul to be given or Pedro Neto throwing his arms in the air after a challenge.
It is so naive and more evidence that shows this is a really young and inexperienced Chelsea team.
As Nevin stated, Fernandez, Neto, Palmer and the rest of Maresca’s side have to keep playing on after tackles instead of throwing tantrums. There was too much of that at St James’ Park on Saturday, which is not what you want to see.
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