Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino has, on Sunday evening, moved to defend his side, amid the club’s ongoing injury crisis.
Pochettino and co, of course, marked their return to action earlier this afternoon.
Desperate for a bounce-back result on the back of an underwhelming opening to the campaign, Chelsea made the trip to the Vitality Stadium, for a Premier League meeting with Bournemouth.
When all was said and done, though, once more, the Blues’ host of big-money stars failed to deliver the goods.
Owing to another disappointing showing, they were forced to settle for a share of the spoils, in a goalless stalemate.
It’s 0-0 vs Bournemouth and Chelsea remain with six wins in all competitions in 2023. 🔵 #CFC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 17, 2023
On the back of proceedings coming to a close at the Vitality, fans, pundits and the media alike, in turn, have since taken aim at Chelsea in ruthless fashion.
And yet, owing to a record of just one win from five, they find themselves sitting in a lowly 14th in the Premier League table.
Speaking to the media on Sunday evening, it therefore came as little surprise when the subject of his side’s struggles, and spending alike, were put to the aforementioned Pochettino.
Chelsea’s boss, though, was defiant in his ensuing response.
Pointing towards the remarkable list of injury absentees in his squad at present, ‘Poch’ went as far as to assert that the Pensioners’ critical fanbase ‘can do whatever they want’ at present:
“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. We have had bad luck. We had 12 injured today, plus Noni, Cucurella and 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.”
Pochettino: “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…
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) September 17, 2023
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