Mauricio Pochettino understands why Chelsea fans booed after draw with Bournemouth

Mauricio Pochettino understands why fans booed Chelsea off after drawing with Bournemouth, but says it will not affect the way he manages his team.

Chelsea were held to a goalless draw at the Vitality on Sunday, against a side yet to win in the Premier League this season and one that they were largely expected to beat.

It was a largely lacklustre performance from the Blues who squandered several great chances to score, with Pochettino critical of his full-backs, but praiseful of struggling star Mykhailo Mudryk.

At the full-time whistle, away fans booed their team off the pitch, with frustration mounting after just one league win in their opening five games.

Pochettino’s Reaction

Asked about the jeers in his post-match press conference, Pochettino was a little less sympathetic, saying he and his side were doing the best they could under difficult circumstances.

He said: ‘I think the fans know if you invest the type of money people create in the media, okay, it is true, but this is expectation. If you don’t win it is normal that the fans are not happy. But what i can tell the fans is the circumstance, that we cannot change, the reality we cannot change.

‘We have too many players [out], of course we are a team that will be strong if we are all together. Even Manchester City, Arsenal, all the teams, with a normal circumstance with all the squad fit of course can compete for everything.

‘Why is it different for us? Why? It is because of what? We don’t have all the squad available from the beginning of the season.

‘What can we do? For me I have nothing to say. The fans can do whatever they want. We know what we need to do, we are strong in our belief.’

Pochettino’s Belief

Pochettino went on to say that he and his team were doing their best under difficult circumstances and that they had been unlucky with injuries.

He said: ‘We are not going to change the way we are doing things and then we have our opinion, our reality. We assess the team and in our opinion, our reality, in our circumstance, we are doing very, very good things, more than people can expect.

‘But Chelsea expectation is to win. I told you before the season, Chelsea is about winning. We are creating something and we need to believe, young guys need to feel what it means to be a Chelsea player and of course what it means to play in the Premier League.’

‘We have had bad luck. We had 12 injured today, plus Noni [Madueke], [Marc] Cucurella and [Moises] Caicedo. Then we have three-four young guys and two keepers on the bench.

‘Okay, am I going to cry, am I going to complain? I need to accept this, the challenge and keep being positive. Of course Bournemouth is a good team and is going to compete.

‘Every team is going to compete and be difficult. Fair or not fair that is the circumstance we need to accept and we need to be positive, patient.

Conclusion

Pochettino concluded by saying that he understood the fans’ frustration but urged them to get behind the team in their next game against Aston Villa.

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