Mauricio Pochettino admitted he cannot ask for love or support after being told to “f*** off” by most sections of the Chelsea supporters away at Gtech Community Stadium.
During a disappointing performance away at Brentford, Chelsea fans expressed their discontent with lewd chants directed at the manager and the owner Todd Boehly. Despite conceding the lead to goals from Yoane Wissa and Mads Roerslev, the team managed to get a draw thanks to defender Axel Disasi’s late equalizing goal and grab a point.
The crowd expressed their frustration with the current state of the club and voiced their backing for former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and former owner Roman Abramovich, hoping for changes and better guidance in the future.
When asked about the angry reaction, Pochettino said: “No, I am not worried. We need to accept. I told you, I think someone asked me do you feel the love from the fans? No. We need to build our relationship between the coaching staff, the coach and the fans.
“You build relationships by winning games. But at the moment, the expectation, we cannot match the expectation. We are not going to ask for love. I don’t ask for nothing. I am going to continue to work and try to change this situation and change, winning games, we now have one week before Newcastle.
“We need to manage the reality. We are working really, really hard to try and win games. The team is fighting. I think in six days, we played 120 minutes on Sunday, Wednesday was another tough game, then some decisions because of injuries or some circumstances.
“We tried to find different ways to play. But if that doesn’t work and the fans are disappointed with that, I need to respect their opinions.”
Chelsea are positioned 11th in the Premier League points table with 12 games left to play, as their chances of qualifying for Europe next season increasingly appear to be slipping away also they’ll have to win games now consistently if they want to have any chances of finishing in the top 10.
“If [the fans] did what they did, I think it is a frustration,” he said.
“We need to understand that. I am fighting to try and provide the team the tools to work, improve and play in the best way, score goals and win games.”
