Former Chelsea player and coach Gianfranco Zola has now shared what he has seen at Chelsea recently that he had not noticed before.
He told ‘Up Front with Simon Jordan’ that the treatment of the current manager by supporters is something he finds unusual.
Mauricio Pochettino has not proven too popular with Chelsea fans in his first campaign at the club, with some simply not able to form a connection with him at all.
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Pochettino under pressure
Some of the decisions he has made on the pitch in recent games have not helped him. Supporters were notably not too pleased when Raheem Sterling avoided being subbed off until late against Leicester City in the FA Cup.
Their frustration reached a climax when they were chanting the name of former manager Jose Mourinho in protest of the current situation at the club.
Zola has claimed that while frustration is natural, having supporters boo the current setup is something he has never experienced in his time at Stamford Bridge.
Zola finds booing ‘unusual’
He said: “It’s very unusual and very destructive. It’s difficult to see. I have been in the club for seven years, not all the time things went well. We had bad spells but the supporters never booed us, they were always close to us. So what we have seen this year is very unusual. Whether it’s fair I don’t know, maybe not.
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“But on the other hand considering the level of success the club has had in the last 10 years, the expectations is high. It’s natural, it’s human that people react like this. It’s frustration most of all. But above all the players the supporters are behind.
“They might be critical but they are still behind the club, which is the most important thing.”
It is believed that the pressure is on Pochettino to deliver European football for the club by the end of this season, with his job certainly not secure right now.
There are currently two routes available to do so, with them two wins away from winning the FA Cup and the first trophy of the new era at Chelsea.
