Mauricio Pochettino spoke to the media in Cobham on Saturday evening ahead of Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City.
The Blues are at Wembley Stadium for the second time this season, taking on FA Cup holders Man City in the last four of the competition. After convincingly beating Everton on Monday evening, Chelsea should go into the match full of confidence.
At City, however, there is a much bigger challenge at stake for Chelsea - and on a bigger stage. Before a match of such magnitude, the press room is always a little busier in Cobham.
So predictably, Pochettino faced a lot of questions as he looked ahead to Saturday night's semi-final. Below you can read every word the Argentinian had to say.
Have you spoken to your players again since the penalty incident?"I think we talked a lot on Monday, and on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we were practicing for penalties. It's clear again. We made it clear after the match that we had a meeting between the players and staff, and the sporting directors, Paul [Winstanley] and Laurence [Stewart] were there too.
"I explained my feelings and the way we will act in the future if something like this happens again. It was very clear, the message, I tried to translate the message to you afterwards in the media.
READ MORE: READ MORE: Mauricio Pochettino already knows the controversial Chelsea decision he has to make before the match against Manchester City The prospect of a penalty shootout... Pep Guardiola's four-word confession at Man City proves Mauricio Pochettino Chelsea right Are you surprised how much Cole Palmer has scored?"Now we have to move on. It's about being smart - they are smart and understood the situation. At some points it was an image you don't like, but at other points it's good if the player wants to take over the responsibility and taking penalties; it shows the personality of the team and the players. But they have to accept the rules and the way they approached it was in a very wrong way, but it is very important for them so that we can learn from it and that. we can apply common sense and discipline and help in the future."
Does he have a point to prove against Manchester City?"We're ready. We're ready. You never know. But yeah, we were practicing. We have a clear idea, but in the end it's hard to guess what's going to happen, but I think we're ready ."
What do you think about FA Cup replays being scrapped?"That is a result of his shots and also of his teammates, who offer the opportunity to pass the ball at the right time. He is the punisher, that also helps. I will honestly always say that we never judge the player when we sign the player. We believe that they can perform, but it is true that he performs in a very good way; perhaps beyond expectations. I think this is his first consistent season, but we have to be careful because he is still young, he is growing and he needs to develop in different areas. But of course he is far from what we expected from the start. I have to be honest."
Where do you think Cole Palmer can develop?"He has already played twice [vs Man City] in the Eredivisie. He is very grateful to Manchester City and Pep Guardiola - he always speaks very highly of Manchester City and Pep. He's not the type of player who has anything going for him. He understood perfectly that he might want to prove himself at another club for various reasons. I think today we also thank Manchester City for giving us the opportunity to move to another club. I'll go back and say he's not the type of person who wants to prove anything to his former club. He is very grateful to Pep and Manchester City."
"I am a happy coach who has had the opportunity to coach at different levels, not just at top clubs. I can understand the frustrations of different clubs and maybe have a repeat, live the experience, have the capacity to have more income. I understand completely. With a large team involved in Europe, perhaps it is to avoid playing more games per season. Look, it's not fair to either party or position. I can feel it because I played for Espanyol and Southampton, two different clubs that maybe use this kind of game to enjoy the competition and all that. I can also understand the winter break, because then we have more time in the summer. Big clubs can use a tour and spend more time on the tour to play matches and take advantage of those matches, but maybe some other clubs don't. It is not easy for everyone to be happy."
"First of all, the idea is to cope with the big pressure to play consistently in the Premier League. Then we talked to Jesus [Perez]the technical staff, that it concerns the demands in his private life, the demands are so high.
Will playing at Wembley in February have helped your players?"Maybe he needs to pay attention to other things that he wasn't paying attention to before. That's going to affect how he prepares, how he goes about resting, how he goes to sleep, how he goes about spending his energy that he wasn't spending before.
Can you take advantage of Man City's fatigue?"That's why we have to be careful. Of course we have experience in dealing with these kinds of things when a young kid becomes a bigger star. His life changes. With a senior player it's different. He has to learn from the experience to deal with it now to go."
"Of course the experience can be a good point for the team. Of course the players who might repeat, but we have the opportunity to play again. That could be a good help, to rest more, be calm and approach the game in a different way."
Do you still have the lemons in the office?"Yes, always, we know very well that if you play 120 minutes in the Champions League; the effort is enormous, it is an emotional matter. It's not easy to recover after losing. Of course it will be hard for them.
Do any of the players or coaching staff have any rituals for the bigger games?"For us, we have to remember that they have an incredible squad - players who may not have played and who have the opportunity to play. They have shown themselves in the last six or seven years under Pep's philosophy. Winning titles , I think it's a challenge." for us because they are a club that does fantastic work and plays fantastic football. They show that they have been one of the best teams in the world for the last five, six or seven years."
Gary Neville called your players bottle jobs last time. Will your players be eager to prove a point?"Yes, I have lemons. It's not a superstition, but I like to have lemons in my office. I don't know why, but now I have to believe in this - help it or not - because it makes me feel good. It's like home. The place on the training ground, in my office, it's like home. Lemons make me feel at home, one of the things that makes me feel good."
Have you talked to them about how to deal with it better?"No no no. For me they are all big games. Even if we play in the semi-final of the FA Cup or the first round against Wimbledon, the Carabao Cup. Every match is the most important."
What's the latest about Nkunku?"Like I said about Cole Palmer, I'm not a bad feelings person. What happened, happened. It is a special circumstance. Now I don't think about that. I hope we can win and go through to the final, but we're not going to think about that. I have too many good memories of Wembley, we played so many games. I hope I can win a trophy there one day. That is my dream, what we want, the technical staff."
"It will be a completely different match. Another club, another institution, another situation and circumstance. Football players or technical staff, the most important thing is always to adapt to the circumstances. Things can always change, but the most important thing is to respond when something happens. We talked about it: in football you will never see a similar action. That must be the case, given the experience we have already played there. It must be important for us now to be a team that feels what it takes to play at Wembley."
"They are assessing him day by day and in recent days he has had the opportunity to be involved in some parts of the training. We now have to see his body's reaction and see how he evolves. We hope he can join us soon."
