London (AFP)
Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino revealed that he feared being sacked, after the embarrassing loss to Wolverhampton 4-2, in the 23rd round of the English Football League on the fourth of last February.
The fans booed in that match, and demanded the coach’s dismissal, after the team’s fourteenth loss at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea then fell to eleventh place in Pochettino’s first season, which seemed to end disastrously.
Wolverhampton, which currently occupies thirteenth place, 14 points behind Chelsea in sixth place before the final stage of the league, seemed more determined to win against its rival in that match, despite the fact that the “Blues” spent more than $1.5 billion in signing players since the arrival of the club. American co-owner Todd Buhle two years ago.
Pochettino, 52, answered the question of whether he thought one day he would be told: “I think after the Wolverhampton match.”
He added: “Remember what happened after that as well,” referring to a tweet from Bella, the wife of Brazilian defender Thiago Silva, in which she seemed to call for the coach’s dismissal.
He continued: “That loss in our stadium was a difficult moment. At that moment, when you are at the head of a technical staff, you feel lonely.”
The Argentine led the team to the League Cup final, but lost to Liverpool. He was also eliminated from the FA Cup semi-final by Manchester City, but his league campaign was what put pressure on the former Tottenham coach.
“You feel like everyone sees you as guilty of something you don’t know about,” he said.
He added: “We felt lonely. We were alone after the match, waiting. I think we spent two hours (on the field). That was the longest time we stayed there after a match, looking at each other in a small room.”
He added: “We were more sad than we thought about the possibility of dismissal. It was an unfair situation, a situation we did not deserve.”
Pochettino had previously indicated that “it would not be the end of the world” if he was dismissed, and he even hinted that it was better for him to leave his position than to wait to find out his future after the end of the season.
But Chelsea’s results have improved in recent weeks, and they can qualify for the European League (Europa League) only by drawing with Bournemouth on Sunday in the final stage.
The Argentine coach admitted that he was not satisfied with leading the team to the second European competition at the level after the Champions League, with Chelsea accustomed to winning the league and the Champions League.
He said: “This is not enough for us,” adding: “We will not celebrate. We will not take a picture to celebrate our coming in fifth or sixth place. This is not enough for the club.”
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