Mauricio Pochettino said Chelsea supporters do not need to trust him, but should “trust the club” after being on the receiving end of negative chants during the victory over Leicester in the FA Cup.
The home supporters booed the decision to substitute Mykhailo Mudryk instead of forward Raheem Sterling in the 78th minute, with some fans chanting “you don’t know what you’re doing”.
Sterling had missed a penalty and another good chance in the first half, then blazed a free-kick wildly over in the second before Chelsea went on to win 4-2 and reach the semi-finals.
“We need to accept the situation,” Pochettino said of the fans’ criticism.
“It’s like when I try to explain the situation of the squad, maybe I need to explain also [to] the fans. We need to accept it.
“That does not mean we agree or not agree but we need to accept.”
Five minutes after Leicester defender Callum Doyle had been sent off with the game level at 2-2, Mudryk was replaced by Carney Chukwuemeka, who scored to put Chelsea ahead in the 92nd minute.
Sterling was taken off four minutes from time and his replacement, Noni Madueke, claimed a fine fourth goal in the eighth minute of added time to seal the success against the Championship side.
“The fans in football live on expectation and always wanting the best for the club and the player,” added Pochettino.
“When you don’t match the expectation, that is the difficult thing for our fans to understand. I talked in the past, I am strong, I have no problem. We are going to keep moving in the same direction.
“I hope in the next game that the fans are always unconditional behind the team because we are representing Chelsea.
“We are in a process where we want to make our fans happy and we are going to try. I hope we can create that from now until the end of the season, we can create a good connection with the fans.
“I don’t ask that they trust me, they need to trust in the club, because at the end if I am here that is because of the decision of the club.
“It is not to trust in me or to trust in the players, it is to trust the club, that the club is doing or thinks is good for the club. It is about to trust in everyone not only me.”
The reaction of the supporters towards Sterling threatened to bubble over after he missed a 26th-minute spot-kick, having taken the ball from regular penalty taker Cole Palmer.
Pochettino said Sterling asked Palmer to take the penalty and said he will always “support the decision of his players”.
“We need to support him, he’s an amazing player,” said the Blues boss. “He has more than 10 years experience in the Premier League.
“Of course I think the contribution was good. He was a little bit unlucky with some actions where he should have scored, but we are a team and we need to be there for everyone.
“Fans are entitled to show their emotion. For us, we try to emphasise with our fans not to criticise. They want the best for our team and players, but we are in a project. We need support and to really believe. We are trying to build something.
“I know really well how to manage. What the fans want is to win the game and that we achieved.
“What the fans want is to go to Wembley and that we achieved. They need to trust me to manage in the way I think is the best way for the club.
“We need to respect their opinion as much as they need to respect my decision.”