"We're living in an era where it's easy to abuse" - Mauricio Pochettino reacts to Chelsea star's pointed celebration and POTM display
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino praised midfielder Enzo Fernandez after his Player of the Match display in the Blues' 3-1 FA Cup win over Aston Villa on Wednesday, February 7. The Argentine scored a superb free-kick and dominated the midfield as the Blues eased into the fifth round of the tournament.
Speaking to the media after the match, Pochettino highlighted how people were quick to abuse players after a poor performance. He urged the fans to remember that most of Chelsea's current players are still young and need time to show their quality.
He was quoted by Metro as saying:
"Look, today we are living in an era where it is easy to abuse, you know? To the people, to the public people. It's normal that the players are human, not robots, and it's so easy today to abuse. I think we need to understand that we are playing football, you know? Of course this type of situation makes us angry, situations that are completely unfair."
He added:
"Today, Enzo showed why he's here and he showed his quality. But we didn't have any doubts about him, or about [Moises] Caicedo or about different players, young players that arrived here with expectation to win titles and to score with every single touch! He is a world champion player. Look, when he signed one year ago, he arrived after nearly two years with no holidays, no rest, with the pressure, still young, different environment, different language, different culture, a team that needs time to build. All of these types of circumstance, you need time."
The Chelsea manager continued:
"I don't want to annoy the people. For me, it's not an excuse. I want to be here because I really believe in the project, I really believe in the player. But please, stop to create expectation that does match to the reality and help the players that are here to try and build something."
Conor Gallagher and Nicolas Jackson scored the two first goals for the Blues before Enzo Fernandez made it 3-0 in the second half. Moussa Diaby pulled one back for Aston Villa in the 91st minute but it was too late for them to make a comeback in the game.
Enzo Fernandez has no plans to leave Chelsea, reveals agent
Football Transfers reported earlier this week that Enzo Fernandez and his agents were talking to interested clubs as they planned to leave Chelsea after this season. The report added that the midfielder was not happy with the project and believed he should leave.
However, Fernandez's agent Uriel Perez spoke to AS on Wednesday and rebuffed all such claims. He said the former Benfica star was aware that the project would take some time before it started giving results.
Chelsea paid a reported €121 million fee to sign Fernandez last January after the midfielder impressed at the FIFA World Cup for Argentina.