Mauricio Pochettino will hold his press conference on Tuesday as expected, suggesting his job remains safe despite mounting criticism in the wake of a disastrous loss to Wolves.
Chelsea travel to Villa Park on Wednesday for the FA Cup fourth round replay. They are desperate to end the rot and are still reeling from a 4-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge which saw them booed off the pitch.
Matheus Cunha’s hat-trick and Axel Disasi’s own goal canceled out Cole Palmer’s opener before Thiago Silva scored a late consolation for the Blues.
The defeat leaves Chelsea eleventh in the Premier League, fifteen points behind Aston Villa, who are in fourth place.
The dismal result came just four days after The Blues were on the receiving end of a 4-1 thrashing against Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday evening.
Mauricio Pochettino is expected to hold his press conference as usual on Tuesday
The Argentinian cut a desolate figure at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon
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The Blues have now lost ten of their 23 Premier League games and Pochettino admitted his team are not currently playing well enough to secure European qualification.
“At the moment that is the reality,” the Argentinian said at his press conference.
‘Myself too. I’m the first one responsible. What we showed was that we are not good enough. We have not managed the situation well and of course no one can be safe.
‘I don’t want to come here and say, “No, I’m the best, and the players are the worst.”
‘We are all responsible. The players have to take responsibility, just like I take responsibility. At the moment we are not consistent with the history of the club. That’s true.’
The huge loss even made Silva’s wife put pressure on the manager.
Silva’s partner Belle posted on her social media: ‘It’s time to change. If you wait any longer, it will be too late.”
Chelsea have spent more than £1 billion in four transfer windows since Todd Boehly took over the club, with Pochettino spending £400 million on players last summer alone.
But the Blues have little to show for their investment so far, with a place in the Carabao Cup final later this month the only positive in an otherwise dismal season.
On Sunday, Chelsea supporters turned their anger on the team, chasing the players off the pitch at half-time and throughout the match.
Chelsea players were sent off on Sunday after losing 4-2 at home to Wolves
Matheus Cunha scored a hat-trick as Wolves ran riot at Stamford Bridge
A small group even chanted Jose Mourinho’s name as the Portuguese manager was now out of work following his sacking by Roma last month.
“I am human,” Pochettino said of the criticism. ‘That is of course not a nice situation.
‘If you don’t win with all expectations at a club like Chelsea, you have to accept that what happened can happen. To work in this business, at these types of clubs, you have to be strong.
‘Perception is one thing, reality is another. The perception is that Chelsea should be in a different position, but we are not there. Maybe because we’re not good enough.
‘Understanding the fans is very important. We say: “Yes, we want to apologize, I’m sorry.”’
The defeat to Wolves was Pochettino’s 31st game in charge of the Blues, matching the total achieved by Graham Potter before he was sacked in April last year.
Pochettino has managed just three more points than Graham Potter in the same number of Premier League games
The Argentinian has won 15 games in all competitions to Potter’s 12, but both have lost 11 times. To have in the Premier League The Blues have achieved 31 points under Pochettino, three more than under the former Brighton manager at the helm.
Under Pochettino, Chelsea were significantly more productive, scoring 54 goals compared to the 33 they scored under Potter.
Significantly, however, they have also conceded 48 goals under the current regime, a marked increase on the 31 goals they allowed under Potter.
