Pochettino pledges support for under-fire Sterling

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Mauricio Pochettino defended Raheem Sterling after he was jeered by Chelsea fans during the 4-2 win against Leicester.

The England forward missed a penalty and a number of big chances during the FA Cup quarter-final and was barracked by some of the home crowd when he was substituted.

He did, though, provide the assist for Cole Palmer’s first-half goal as Chelsea reached Wembley once more.

“It’s obvious that I can’t hide anything, the feelings weren’t good for him. But I’m going to support him,” Blues boss Pochettino said of Sterling.


“He has an unbelievable CV – he has played in some big teams. He is an experienced player. Of course today he missed a penalty and some chances but I’m happy with him and I’m going to support him.”

Pochettino also faced criticism from fans when he replaced Mykhailo Mudryk, not Sterling, with his first change of the afternoon – drawing chants of “You don’t know what you’re doing”.

“I made a decision. I am not here to do what the people want,” Pochettino said.

“Also, I am not stupid. I saw Mudryk and we analysed. He was tired, he was doing some stretching. We thought maybe he couldn’t finish the game.

“So we went first for Mudryk, then Raheem. We need to see everything, we are professional, we want to win.

“We are going to support Misha. We are going to support Sterling and all the players that are in the squad.”