Chelsea currently stand 11th in English Premier League 2023-24 and face the likelihood of a second successive season out of Europe if they don't beat Manchester City in next month’s FA Cup semi-final. Fans have turned on manager Mauricio Pochettino and the club's owners for the dismal results
Mauricio Pochettino said Chelsea’s owners are suffering along with supporters as the team labours in the bottom half of the Premier League table, after fans accused the club of becoming a “laughing stock” since Todd Boehly’s Clearlake Capital took charge. (More Football News)
A letter written by the Chelsea Supporters’ Trust to senior management on March 8 described a “critically low mood” amongst fans that it felt could not be ignored if a situation of “irreversible toxicity” was to be avoided.
The team are 11th in the league and face the likelihood of a second successive season out of Europe if they fail to overcome Manchester City in next month’s FA Cup semi-final and go on to win the competition.
Pochettino’s tenure has been badly marred by a persistent and lengthy injury list, with nine players confirmed absent for Saturday’s meeting with Burnley at Stamford Bridge.
However, it has not stopped fans turning on the former Tottenham boss in recent weeks, including during the FA Cup win over Leicester before the international break.
A section of supporters sang “you don’t know what you’re doing” before Chelsea edged past the Championship side 4-2 with two stoppage-time goals, and at previous home games were heard singing the names of former manager Jose Mourinho and ex-owner Roman Abramovich.
"I’m going to support the owners that invest and that arrived to the club in a very difficult situation,” said Pochettino.
“The intention is very good. The owners are trying to develop a different project to before. Fans need to understand that it’s a new project with different ideas.
“What we cannot say is they’re not investing and that they don’t have good intentions. They are suffering.”
Despite supporter ire, there have been signs of promise in recent results and performances.
Chelsea have not lost in the league in almost two months since a 4-2 defeat to Wolves at the start of February, and dominated an albeit inexperienced Liverpool team in the Carabao Cup final before losing to a goal in the last minute of extra-time.
Victory over the Clarets on Saturday and at home to Manchester United on Thursday would likely drag them into contention for a place in next season’s Europa Conference League.
“If you look at all the data, in the table we should be in fourth position,” said Pochettino. “But for different reasons, we are not there.
“What the data means is that we are in a good way. In which area do we need to improve? It’s things (that will come) with time. We need to compete better, small details. You can only get this with experience with time playing together.
“It’s easy to find the data when you want to kill someone. But when the data is good and reflects the team is doing well but for different reasons we’re not getting the results we deserve, (we should) trust in the process.
“We know really well what we are doing. That’s why I laugh. I don’t take it personally when the fans say that.”