Izuchukwu OkosiChelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has insisted that the club fans do not need to trust him but rather put their trust in the club in the aftermath of the boos that greeted his team’s late victory against Leicester City in a nervy 3-2 win on Sunday.
Chelsea led for large spells of the game but Leicester twice pegged them back before a late win ensured that the Blues booked their spot in the semifinals of the competition.
Despite his team’s narrow win, the fans were not satisfied with the performance of the boys and took out their frustrations at the former Tottenham Hotspur and PSG manager, especially after the substitution of Mykhailo Mudryk for Carney Chukwuemeka who incidentally scored the second goal.
Another eligible Nigerian Noni Madueke made victory certain with a wonderful curler in added time.
Pochettino himself understands that his team could have similar days and have to accept criticisms.
“We need to accept the situation,” Pochettino said of the fans’ criticism.
“It’s like when I try to explain the situation of the squad, maybe I need to explain also [to] the fans. We need to accept it.
“That does not mean we agree or not agree but we need to accept.”
Mauricio Pochettino said Chelsea supporters do not need to trust him, but should “trust the club” after being on the receiving end of negative chants during the victory over Leicester in the FA Cup.
The home supporters booed the decision to substitute Mykhailo Mudryk instead of forward Raheem Sterling in the 78th minute, with some fans chanting “you don’t know what you’re doing”.
Sterling had missed a penalty and another good chance in the first half, then blazed a free-kick wildly over in the second before Chelsea went on to win 4-2 and reach the semi-finals.
“We need to accept the situation,” Pochettino said of the fans’ criticism.
“It’s like when I try to explain the situation of the squad, maybe I need to explain also [to] the fans. We need to accept it.
“That does not mean we agree or not agree but we need to accept.”
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
