Mauricio Pochettino has issued a rallying cry to Chelsea’s warring supporters.
Head coach Pochettino and the club’s owners have come under fire during another underwhelming campaign for the Stamford Bridge side. And sections of the Blues fanbase have also been at odds with each other during the international break.
In a scathing attack Chelsea ’s Supporters Trust accused the Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali-led hierarchy of turning the club into ‘a laughing stock’ and warned ‘irreversible toxicity’ is imminent. But the club’s fan advisory board hit back at what they considered attempts to create ‘chaos and division.’
Pochettino, who admitted he is unsure if captain Reece James will play again this season, said: “The fans are disappointed. Because they want to help, they want to criticise. We need to be strong when things are not so good. Be calm, be strong and to pay attention is so important because we need to be in full respect with our fans and their opinion is so important.
“The problem is when some people don’t respect us. But in general the fans are very respectful and they are entitled to criticise and give their opinion. They pay for their tickets and for sure we need to accept that. What I can tell the fans is that we will try to pay attention and try to be better and give our best to change this view and atmosphere and the vision that now maybe is a little bit in this way. We all care about that.”
Chelsea have not played for two weeks though that period out of the spotlight has done little to provide respite for Pochettino. And Chelsea’s injury problems increased too, though Pochettino cryptically said that he cannot explain publicly why his squad has been so badly decimated this season.
That issue is a major reason why Chelsea are languishing in 11th going into the final stretch of the season. Their Premier League plight in particular has increased the spotlight on how Boehly and Clearlake Capital are running the club
Pochettino said: “I am going to support the owners that have invested in the club and arrived in a very difficult situation. We need to understand the fans but our personalities are to keep strong because the intention is very good. Our fans need to understand it is a new project with different ideas.
“They [the owners] want to win the Premier League and be in the Champions League – like us.” Pochettino has been targeted too and said: “It is easy to find data and numbers to kill someone.”
But he also insists the underlying stats suggest Chelsea have not got what they deserve and added: “That is why I laugh and don’t take it [criticism] personally. We must trust the process.”
Injuries have undermined that. Robert Sanchez, Trevoh Chalobah and Carney Chukwuemeka picked up new issues ahead of Burnley ’s visit. Along with Levi Colwill, though, there is a chance Chalobah will be fit.
Romeo Lavia has been ruled out for the rest of the season and Pochettino was unsure if James might join him and when Christopher Nkunku might return. On James he said: “It’s difficult to say something because I don’t want you to go, ‘but oh, [you said this].’ We will assess it week-by-week. We hope he will be available for the end of the season.’
One positive during the break was a huge goal for Mykhaylo Mudryk, whose play-off winner against Iceland sealed Ukraine ’s Euro 2024 spot. Pochettino is seeing the young winger “mature” and cited his progress as vindication of his methods.
He said: “Because of how we are we are helping the club [develop young players], if we were any different we might not be here today. I promise you would be talking to different coaches.”
