Mauricio Pochettino has questioned why the English media haven’t reacted to Liverpool’s 3-1 loss to Arsenal last weekend in the same manner they did after Jurgen Klopp’s men beat Chelsea 4-1 at Anfield on Wednesday last week.
The Chelsea boss came under heavy pressure and criticism over the manner in which his side lost against the current league leaders, before they were also handed a 4-2 loss against Wolves at home on Sunday.
Chelsea have since slipped down to 11th on the league table, with 20 points now separating them and Liverpool.
Although the Reds still sit on top of the table, Pochettino doesn’t seem to think that their situation is any different from that of his side.
“When the expectation is different to the reality, it’s difficult,” the Chelsea manager said at a press conference on Tuesday, as his side prepare to face Aston Villa in an FA Cup fourth-round replay on Wednesday.
“When we lost to Liverpool, it was ‘massive fail, Chelsea are so bad’. When Liverpool lost to Arsenal, I heard nothing – it was a similar result.”
Pochettino also moved to clarify his comments after Chelsea’s defeat to Wolves on Sunday, where he seemed to imply that his current team isn’t good enough to fight for a place in the top four.
According to the 51-year-old, his thoughts were simply taken out of context.
“Now (when) I’m watching TV and media, some guys take advantage of some situations to take my words out of context,” he added. “That question came from my post-match press conference – are the players good enough to be in the top four or top six? I said, ‘today, we were not good enough, and me the first’.
“Then they said, ‘Pochettino said the players aren’t good enough’. What? It’s taking it out of context, my words. In that game, we were not good enough. I don’t want to hide the reality.
“Be careful. Some people take advantage, when we lose a game, to say things that never appeared in my mouth. That upset me a little bit.
“The most difficult thing is to explain to my wife. ‘Why did you say the players are not good enough?’ I never said that. You know what I had to do last time? To show her the press conference. That is not a joke. It is the reality we live in.”