'Technically…' – Joe Cole explains Penders’ mistake against Tottenham

Mike Penders on his debut. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) Mike Penders on his debut. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

'Technically…' – Joe Cole explains Penders’ mistake against Tottenham

Originally posted on Talk Chelsea | By Will Faulks | Last updated Oct 25, 2026 12:19 PM ET

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An inexperienced goalkeeper ended up costing Chelsea in their defeat to Tottenham last night, and the pundits looked at how.

Mike Penders is 21 and made his Premier League debut against Spurs yesterday.

It was always going to be tough, and everybody was expecting some teething problems from the youngster as he fills in for Emi Martinez. But it couldn’t have got off to a worse start in the end, with the keeper’s attempted punch at a corner flying the wrong way and into his own net.

On TNT Sports, Joe Cole had his say on what had gone wrong at that crucial moment.

Cole blames poor technique for Penders mistake

“[Penders] is just not strong enough. This is a young man [Penders] learning his trade that they think very highly of. He’s just not strong enough. Technically, he goes with right hand; it’s a slippery pitch,” Cole said of Penders’ efforts to win the ball.

“There’s a little bit of physicality [from Jan Paul van Hecke]; he’s probably not been hit like that before. As a young man, he’ll come back stronger,” Cole added, who never lost at home to Spurs while at Chelsea.”

We knew that having Martinez out for a few weeks was going to hurt us – we just didn’t expect it to come so quickly or so directly.

This article first appeared on Talk Chelsea and was syndicated with permission.

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