SHOCKED fans want Maurico Pochettino gone for his “sackable” claim that Chelsea played for penalties in their Carabao Cup final defeat.
Pochettino also insisted he was forced to replace “tired” stars with young subs, only to see Virgil van Dijk head Liverpool’s 118th-minute winner.
RexMauricio Pochettino was ‘proud’ of his team but wondered if they were playing for penalties when they ran out of steam in extra time[/caption]
“Your mentality stinks, get out of my football club,” responded one Blues‘ supporter to the manager’s spot-kick confession.
And another hit out: “This is a sackable statement. No???”
Some supporters pointed out that Pochettino was talking about the attitude of his players – rather than his own wishes or tactics.
But that failed to save the ex-Tottenham chief from a savaging on social media.
One fan even suggested it will be “insanely toxic if he’s not gone”.
Another posted: “What sort of mentality is this bro, you’re Chelsea in a Carabao Cup final, not Notts County.”
But this line of attack was balanced by fans worrying that Pochettino had been misinterpreted.
One observer stressed: “He said ‘THE TEAM’ – read and understand. Clearly he never wanted that.”
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Pochettino claimed he was “proud”of his side despite Liverpool being without 10 senior players.
He added: “Look, of course, it was difficult. Of course, we are frustrated.
“The players feel the disappointment. We were so close to winning the game after 90 minutes. They started to lose their energy.
“[Ben] Chilwell felt really, really tired. [Conor] Gallagher, after five minutes, we needed to change.
“The team felt maybe the penalties would be good for us.”