Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino has insisted the club’s results during the 2022/23 season are to blame for the volatile atmosphere at Stamford Bridge this year.
The Blues’ first season under the ownership of BlueCo proved disastrous, entering the campaign as FIFA Club World Champions but finishing 12th in the Premier League, scoring only 38 goals in 38 games and picking up 44 points.
Thomas Tuchel, who led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2021, was dismissed early in the season and replaced by Graham Potter, who oversaw a poor run of results before himself losing the job. Frank Lampard returned as caretaker manager in April but won just one of his 11 games in charge.
Chelsea have largely continued to struggle under Pochettino, but they have at least gone unbeaten in their last eight home games. Ahead of Tuesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg with Championship side Middlesbrough, the Argentine admitted he is trying to stem the tide after a horrendous period in the club’s history.
“We are paying now the effect of 18 months. We have been here for six months and sometimes for us it is difficult to compare. We are getting better results now. But the disappointment for the fans is from last season. It is a disappointment for a long period. But in how we feel, Stamford Bridge is very good,” Pochettino said.
“In a few periods in some games, like Brentford or Nottingham Forest, the energy was really down because the team didn’t engage the fans. That is our mistake. But in the rest of the games – Arsenal, Man City, Brighton, Liverpool – I think the fans were really good.
“If tomorrow we play well from the beginning and show the right attitude the fans are going to be behind us. We have very good fans. They want to win because the history of Chelsea is to win. We feel so disappointed from last season because if you lose so many games at home it is normal the energy is down.”
Chelsea trail Boro 1-0 from the first leg at the Riverside Stadium – a match which ended with travelling fans reacting with hostility – and Pochettino called on both players and supporters to play their role and help them through to the final.
“Our fans are going to be really motivated to help the team to reach the final,” he added. “The team need to translate the good energy for the fans to be motivated. We need to send the first signal that we care, that we want to go to the final.
“We need to apologise to our fans. I can understand the players and also the fans. The players were so disappointed. So upset that you don’t want to think too much and you want to go into the dressing room and go home because you are really angry. But we need to recognise the effort of our fans.”
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