Chelsea fans chanted against Mauricio Pochettino during the 2-2 draw with Brentford (Shutterstock)
Thomas Frank has defended Mauricio Pochettino after the Chelsea manager was targeted by his own supporters during the 2-2 draw with Brentford on Saturday.
Nicolas Jackson gave Chelsea the lead in the first half at the Gtech Community Stadium but Brentford equalised through Mads Roerslev before Yoane Wissa put the hosts in front with a brilliant acrobatic effort in the 69th minute.
With their team 2-1 behind, Chelsea supporters in the away end began to sing the names of Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovich, while for the first time this season, fans could be heard chanting against Pochettino.
Chelsea pulled level through Axel Disasi’s header with seven minutes remaining but the draw leaves Pochettino’s side 11th in the Premier League and with just 10 wins from 26 games so far this season.
Frank, however, is adamant that Chelsea are heading in the right direction under Pochettino and believes they have been one of the most unluckiest sides in the Premier League this term.
Asked about the Chelsea fans booing Pochettino, Frank said: ‘Yeah, I think that’s why I’m always a little bit [sighs].
‘I know they’re not maybe… I don’t know exactly what was expected, but the fans expected more, but in general I respect Mauricio very much what he’s done and what he’s doing.
Thomas Frank insists Chelsea have improved under Mauricio Pochettino (Shutterstock )
‘It’s always when you speak about, you always say you speak positive about your own team and then you need to be a little bit front-footed and then you can be negative about the other team.
‘Actually, I think them [Chelsea] together with us have been the most unlucky in terms of you see all these stats, xG [expected goals], chances, xG points [expected points], they’ve been very unlucky throughout the season.
‘I think they were very unlucky not to win the Carabao Cup against Liverpool, I think they had the biggest chances.
‘I said it after last time we played them, you can see they are in a better place and I think they’re going in the right direction so they just need to keep going.’
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When asked about Chelsea changing their formation against Brentford, Frank said after the 2-2 draw: ‘Thank you for that question, they played a back three in the first four of the games of the season then in 21 games in a row they played a back four.
‘They’ve had all their players available, then they change it suddenly for us. Why – do they fear us, do they think we’re good? I don’t know, but that’s interesting so we must do something well.’
When asked about Chelsea playing it long during the game, Frank said: ‘Of course, we are the best high-pressing team in the league.
‘I think it was the right strategy, I would do the same if I’m playing against us, I would go long every single time.’
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