Pochettino’s subs silence his critics as Sterling struggles

LONDON — Mauricio Pochettino's stoppage-time celebration seemed justified for a reason. As Carney Chukwuemeka scored a weak goal in the 92nd minute to finally break Leicester City's resistance, the Chelsea manager turned to shake his right arm at the Blues fans near the dugout.

Noni Madueke then added shine to the scoreline with a fine strike, sealing a 4-2 FA Cup quarter-final victory that ultimately sends Chelsea to Wembley, but much of Sunday afternoon looked like to a Stamford Bridge referendum on Pochettino's future.

If there had been a public vote in the second half, he very well could have lost. Pochettino was greeted with chants of “You don't know what you're doing” when he chose to introduce Chukwuemeka for Mykhailo Mudryk in the 78th minute, despite Raheem Sterling enduring the kind of afternoon nightmare that might take him a while to come back from. Since.

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Sterling was eventually substituted four minutes from time with the score 2-2, prompting boos for the England international – later mixed with applause from those wishing to stand together – as Chelsea worked hard to beat an opposition in the Championship reduced to 10 men for the match. Last 17 minutes after Callum Doyle's red card.

Pochettino could therefore be forgiven if he felt a high degree of satisfaction when Chukwuemeka and Madueke made such match-winning contributions on a day when hostility towards him reached new levels.

“I'm not the manager here to do what people want,” Pochettino said. “Besides, I'm not stupid. I did it to get going again. For me, I saw Mudryk. We were analyzing, he was tired and doing some stretching. We thought maybe he wouldn't finish the match and we decide to start with Mudryk and then for Raheem.

“That's because we have to see everything. We are professional. We want to win, but of course we understand the situation completely. That doesn't mean I agree. But listen, we are going to support Mudryk, Raheem and all the players on the team.

“I am not only asking the [fans] trust me. They have to trust the club because in the end, if I am here, it is the club's decision and they have to trust the club's project, as well as me and the club. They have to trust that the club is doing what they think is right for the club and for the fans. It's about trusting everyone. »

Pochettino probably didn't need to be reminded of the tightrope he's currently walking, given that in recent weeks fans have expressed frustration at a team that's truly consistent in their inconsistency, with some chanting for Jose Mourinho during their match draw 2-2 at Brentford.

Sources told ESPN that some of the sympathy within the club's hierarchy towards Pochettino came from internal data suggesting Chelsea had not received fair reward for their performances this season. The most basic numbers were certainly in their favor: an expected goals total of 4.59 to 0.74, 26 shots to Leicester's five and 59.9% possession.

But once again, they played only in patches and almost entirely devoid of the authority that the best teams deliver on a weekly basis.

They led 2-0 at half-time thanks to smart work from Nicolas Jackson which allowed Marc Cucurella to open the scoring in the 13th minute, before Sterling missed a penalty in the 27th minute with an attempt revealing a serious lack of confidence, angering the locals as he gained the upper hand. kickoff from the prolific Cole Palmer.

It got worse a minute before half-time as he got his foot well wide when in net, although a slight uptick came moments later when Sterling turned provider for Palmer to convert at point blank range.

The fragility of this Chelsea team, however, continues to harm Pochettino. We can't necessarily blame him for the kind of individual error that led to Axel Disasi inexplicably over-hitting a simple back pass past Robert Sánchez to score a bizarre own goal in the 51st minute, or the individual quality that saw Stephy Mavididi curl in a brilliant equalizer in the 62nd minute. for visitors.

But it is up to him to address the collective loss of control, and it happens far too often for it to be a coincidence.

Pochettino had sympathy for Sterling's plight, facing chants of “take him down” from incandescent home fans after he launched a 75th-minute free-kick so high it would have looked out of place at Twickenham.

“It’s obvious, I can’t hide anything,” Pochettino said. “The feelings were not good for him, but I will support him. Today is a great opportunity to support him. He has an incredible CV, a player who has played in great teams, an experienced player .

“Of course, today he missed the penalty and a few chances. But look, I'm happy with him, we will support him. I think the opportunity is to show that we are building something. That's for sure , he's going to get into the rhythm. again, he has to help the team.

Somewhere in the madness, Palmer continues to keep a cool head. It was his delicious film that allowed Chukwuemeka to deliver the decisive blow. Palmer has now scored and assisted in six different matches for Chelsea in all competitions this season, more than any other player in the Premier League.

And Chelsea are at Wembley again with the opportunity to collect a trophy after a turbulent campaign which saw them attempt to climb into the top half of the table, unsure of their European qualification.

“Maybe I also have to explain to the fans,” Pochettino said. “We have to accept. It doesn't mean we agree or disagree. But we have to accept. All football fans live with expectations and always want the best for the club and the player. When you don't live up to the expectation, that's the hard thing for our fans to understand. I also said in the past: I'm strong, I have no problems. We will continue to move in the same direction .Of course we want to create a better atmosphere, I can't lie.

“I hope that in the next match, our fans will still be die-hard [being] behind the team because we represent Chelsea. The players also want to give the best of themselves for the club and for the supporters. We are in a process where we want to make our fans happy. I hope we can create a good connection with the fans until the end of the season. I'm not going to criticize them, because they have the right to say whatever they want. »

At some point, Pochettino has to bring some calm to this chaos, otherwise it may end up consuming him.