Mauricio Pochettino reveals Thiago Silva ‘came to talk’ after Brazilian’s wife appeared to call for Chelsea boss to be SACKED, as he insists relationship with defender is still ‘strong’
- Thiago Silva’s wife wrote on social media that it is ‘time for change’ at Chelsea
- Mauricio Pochettino is under immense pressure as the big-spending Blues struggle
- Chelsea are a mess and it’s hard to find the answers… but they need to keep the faith and stay patient. It all starts podcast
Mauricio Pochettino told Chelsea’s players at a team meeting on Tuesday that he has 100 percent confidence in them, while the Blues boss also held separate talks with Thiago Silva.
The pressure was increased on Pochettino after Sunday’s 4-2 home defeat to Wolves, when Silva’s wife Belle posted on social media: ‘It’s time to change. If you wait any longer, it will be too late.”
She still hasn’t deleted the post as the team travels to Aston Villa for the FA Cup fourth round on Wednesday.
Still, Silva pulled Pochettino along for a chat on Tuesday to talk about it after he arrived at the training pitch. “He came to talk to me today,” said the Chelsea manager. ‘I’m not going to talk the way we talked. The important thing is that he came and wanted to talk to me.
‘He knows me after more than ten years, who I am, we have a very strong technical staff and the way we operate. Of course he came to talk. We have talked. It was private. And that’s it.’
Mauricio Pochettino has held air talks with Thiago Silva following his wife’s comments
Silva’s wife Belle (above, with him and their two children) took to social media during Chelsea’s defeat to Wolves to call for change at the club
Pochettino revealed that he also spoke to the entire team on the training pitch on Tuesday, saying: ‘I told the players in a meeting today that I trust you more than ever.
‘I’m going to support you more than ever. I’m not a normal boss. I am the leader and I must reflect on every action I truly trust. Of course we go into this moment knowing that we can come back and start winning games.
“Of course we are very disappointed because the way we lost the match and the way we performed was not the plan or the way we wanted to compete. But we have to keep going.’
Pochettino also revealed that he has received a message from Chelsea’s owners saying they are still behind him. “I received a very good text from them,” Pochettino said. “We’re all in this together. And that is the most important thing.’
Yet Pochettino was accused of admitting Chelsea are not good enough to finish in the top six of the Premier League this season after the defeat to Wolves.
He tried to clarify those comments here, saying: ‘I said, “Today we weren’t good enough and I was first.”
‘I don’t mean to take my words out of context. We weren’t good enough in this match and that is the reality.
Thiago and Belle Silva pose for a photo on the pitch after a match at Stamford Bridge
Gary O’Neil’s Wolves beat Chelsea 4-2 before celebrating for the away side
‘The hardest part is explaining it to my wife because she says, ‘Why are you saying he’s not good enough? Look at this man, he’s a world champion,” and then I say I never said that! I have to show her the post-match press conference. It is the reality we live in and therefore the responsibility is enormous.’
Calling for patience around Chelsea, Pochettino added: ‘After the defeat to Liverpool it was like: ‘Huge, huge failure. Look at Chelsea, how bad.” And of course now, Liverpool, they lose against Arsenal and I haven’t heard anything about there being a similar result when we played against Liverpool.’