Mauricio Pochettino says his Chelsea future is “not in his hands” but revealed he received an encouraging message from club owner Todd Boehly following Sunday’s EFL Cup final defeat to Liverpool.
Pochettino’s side have received plenty of criticism following the game at Wembley, particularly given the inexperience of Liverpool’s team – although Chelsea’s starting and finishing line-up was actually younger than that of Jurgen Klopp’s men.
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There has been speculation Boehly and the rest of the ownership group are looking at making a change in the summer with Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim top of their wish-list.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s FA Cup fifth-round clash at home to Leeds United, Pochettino said regarding his future: “It’s not in my hands. I have a good relationship with the owners, the sporting director. It is up to them to trust or not. It’s not a coach’s decision.”
Pochettino highlighted the fact the dominant sides in English football currently have allowed their managers time to succeed, adding: “Manchester City and Liverpool…for me, the good examples are the teams that win.
“I don’t ask for nothing but if you want to succeed in life you have to see the people that are doing things good.
“In three or four years with Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool didn’t win a title. Now they are getting what they deserve. For us, after eight months to get to a final is a massive achievement. We were there, a lot of young players had 90, 120 minutes, now they know what it is to play a final, and they will be better for this experience.”
Asked if he had spoken to the owners after the game at Wembley, he added: “Afterwards I spoke, we shared our opinion on the game. We spoke about the opportunity we missed to win a trophy, as we played very well for 90 minutes. We created the best chances and were not clinical enough.
“They showed their support, after the game Todd sent a very nice message.”
????️ “Gary, I have a very good relationship with him. Sometimes it can be unfair in my opinion and in that case I think it is unfair.”
Mauricio Pochettino responds to Gary Neville’s “blue billion-pound bottlejobs” comment ???????? pic.twitter.com/z2DhQAH2xi
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 27, 2024
Chelsea also came under fire from Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, who labelled Pochettino’s side “the blue, billionaire bottlejobs” following Virgil van Dijk’s winner with two minutes of extra-time to go.
Pochettino said: “We need to put it all in context. We cannot go away from the game of football, what we see in the game. I respect the opinion of every pundit, I have a good relationship with Gary but that doesn’t mean sometimes they can’t be unfair, in my opinion.
“After 90 minutes we were the better side, we deserved to win. We were not clinical enough, then you always need some luck.
“If people want to talk in a different way, that I didn’t shake hands with Todd [Boehly], or what Gary has to say… I am not an Englishman, sometimes I struggle with what people say, but in our life we want to be with people who are brave.”
