Mauricio Pochettino wants supporters to forget the past and believe in the project
The under-fire boss Mauricio Pochettino was eager to deliver some hard facts to the Chelsea faithful after yet another trying week. The supporters’ tolerance was running thin.
It’s obvious what he wants the disgruntled supporters to understand: move on from the past, give us some time, and support the squad.
Ahead of yet another crucial Chelsea night, Pochettino has asked for patience.
In an FA Cup fourth-round replay at Villa Park, the Blues take on Aston Villa, and with Liverpool and Wolves suffering crushing losses in back-to-back games, pressure is mounting on Pochettino.
Although co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali anticipate improvement by summer, his employment is secure for the time being. But Chelsea would suffer another setback if they lost tonight.
It appears like qualifying for Europe through the Premier League will be difficult, therefore if they lose today, their entire season may depend on their performance against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup Final this month.
Fans are in a mutinous mood. Following Sunday’s 4-2 home loss to the Wolves, during which chants were honoring former owner Roman Abramovich, many have demanded that Pochettino be fired.
They yearn for the glory days of the past, but as Pochettino is quick to point out, the times have changed and it is unfair to draw parallels with previous Chelsea squads.
Even if he says he believes in the players, he has cautioned that an inexperienced team “cannot be consistent” and that supporters will need to exercise patience.
while Pochettino was hired on a two-year contract last summer, he claimed to be starting from “zero” while rebuilding Chelsea.
He claims that issues with building a young team are unavoidable and cites the amount of time Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola were given in their formative years at Manchester City and Liverpool.
During yesterday’s occasionally contentious press conference, Pochettino stated, “Of course, we wanted to be in a different place today.” But, we were aware that it would be challenging to enter a club that lacked stability and consistency when we agreed to take the helm. We are starting from scratch. It’s important to understand that things like this can occur.
Since the Wolves loss, Pochettino has had to cope with a great bit of off-field noise. Following Belle, the Brazilian’s wife, posting on social media that the club needed change, he had open discussions with Thiago Silva. She has now expressed regret for the post.
Along with concerns about Pochettino’s future, Mykhailo Mudryk offered a disgruntled supporter £10,000 to play football against him in a one-on-one battle.
According to Pochettino, he is unaffected by other influences like “the stock market in New York or Tokyo, or the weather.”
After Chelsea’s loss to Wolves, he claimed to have gotten a “very good text” from the owners yesterday, which insisted, “We’re all together in this.”
Then, yesterday, the team huddled with Pochettino before training, and the club shared a photo of the group with the phrase “together.” Pochettino called a team meeting yesterday, and now he needs a response from his group against Villa, who on Saturday defeated Sheffield United 5-0 to get back to winning ways.
“We spoke with a player for maybe two or three hours yesterday,” he remarked. Sometimes the problem is mental rather than physical or quality-related; they need to feel confident, trustworthy, and like they belong.
“Alright, so if you want to avoid this kind of issue, you should sign guys that have the experience, performance ability, and proof. Of course, they are excellent players, but in a project like this, they must demonstrate that they can live up to the high standards of a club like Chelsea.
“For this reason, putting them all together in the same format and at the same level is difficult.”