Mauricio Pochettino stressed the importance of him and his struggling Chelsea squad using the remaining weeks of the season to demonstrate their worthiness of remaining at the club.
Chelsea’s 5-0 defeat to Premier League leaders Arsenal on Tuesday marked their most significant loss in over five years.
This humiliation followed their FA Cup semi-final elimination by Manchester City, leaving them on the brink of a third consecutive season without major domestic or European honors.
Despite this, there remains a chance for Chelsea to qualify for next season’s Europa League or Conference League.
In the aftermath of their defeat at the Emirates Stadium, Pochettino faces the challenge of revitalizing a squad that has been accused of lacking fighting spirit.
The Argentine coach emphasized the importance of the upcoming month, not only for himself but also for his players, as they seek to convince the club’s management that they deserve a future at Stamford Bridge.
“It looks like only I need to prove (myself), no?” he said. “Always it’s about the coach needs to prove he deserves to be here next season.
“(But) we are all responsible for the situation. We all need to prove that we deserve to be here next season,” Pochettino noted.
Pochettino expressed optimism about having Cole Palmer back for Saturday’s match against fourth-placed Aston Villa, following the absence of the league’s joint-top scorer in the Arsenal defeat due to illness.
Unfortunately, Chelsea’s injury woes show no signs of easing, with up to 12 players expected to miss the Villa game, including doubts over Raheem Sterling and Carney Chukwuemeka.
Enzo Fernandez’s season has been cut short by groin surgery, adding to Chelsea’s woes.
With a depleted squad, Pochettino faces a challenging task in pursuing a potential European berth.
Regardless of the obstacles, Pochettino stressed that lack of motivation among the players was not a concern for Chelsea.
“If we think we are responsible for motivating the players? Wow — that is difficult to accept,” he said. “If you play for Chelsea, the motivation is there even if you play a friendly.
“If you ask me ‘do we need to motivate the players to play tomorrow, or after tomorrow?’, then I think we have a big problem. I don’t believe motivation is the problem.
“The problem is having the capacity to perform. We cannot give them excuses not to perform and be focused.
“But at the same time, we are a group of people. We are not machines. Some circumstances, you lose a bit of reference of things,” he added.
