Chelsea boss says Newcastle United 'weren't great' amid brutal assessment of 4-1 defeat at St James' Park

Mauricio Pochettino felt Newcastle United 'weren't great' despite beating his Chelsea side 4-1 at St James' Park on Saturday afternoon.

Alexander Isak's early opener was cancelled out by Raheem Sterling in the first half before Newcastle strolled to a comfortable win in the second with further goals from Jamaal Lascelles, Joelinton and Anthony Gordon.

Chelsea captain Reece James was also sent off in the closing stages for a second bookable offence after bringing down Gordon.

And Pochettino felt it was an 'easy' win for Newcastle, after he was asked about Thiago Silva's mistake that led to the hosts' third goal scored by Joelinton.

"It's a bad mistake but I am talking more about energy," said the Chelsea boss. "We did not prepare ourselves to compete in the best way. This is my concern. We thought we were ready to compete but we didn't compete in the way the competition demanded.

"Even if Newcastle weren't great, it was an easy win. It was so easy with the way we conceded, and we were so soft in every challenge.

"We didn't show that we were playing for something important. That's what makes me angry and disappointed. Even if we are a young team and need to learn, these types of games make me very angry."

Chelsea went into the game on the back of a recent 4-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur and 4-4 draw against Manchester City while Newcastle had 13 first-team players unavailable for the match.

Under the circumstances, Pochettino admitted that was his side's worst performance since he was appointed manager.

"It's about showing more personality and character," he added. "We are young but cannot miss this type of opportunity.

"After Tottenham and Manchester City, people praise Chelsea, but then, 'okay, I stop one step before. I didn't do the effort in the right moment - it's okayy, my team-mate is going to fix it'. That is the problem.

"We need to show more strength in our mental game. We need to blame ourselves. We need to be more focused.

"We conceded easy goals. It was our worst game of the season."