Former Manchester United player Dimitar Berbatov has given a serious warning to Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino, suggesting that he could be fired if his team fails to overcome Aston Villa in the FA Cup Fourth Round. Chelsea will travel to Villa Park for the replay of their FA Cup clash with Aston Villa on Wednesday night (February 7). Pochettino’s team drew 0-0 with Unai Emery’s men in the original match at Stamford Bridge at the end of January.
Chelsea are entering the game after a couple of demoralizing results. After their draw with Villa in the FA Cup, they went to Anfield for their Premier League match against Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp’s team completely outplayed the Londoners, winning 4-1. Chelsea suffered another demoralizing Premier League defeat on Matchday 23, this time losing 4-2 to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The team from west London now have the opportunity to get their season back on track with a victory over Aston Villa on Wednesday, and Berbatov believes that Pochettino’s future at the club depends on it. Speaking to Betfair, the former United player speculated that Todd Boehly’s patience may be running out after not seeing results despite spending millions on new players.
Berbatov said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if Chelsea sacked Mauricio Pochettino. Chelsea have invested a lot of money in players – they have talented players in the team – but clearly it’s not going well. The last game against Wolves, when Chelsea lost 4-2 at Stamford Bridge, was a perfect example of the chaos happening on the pitch. You can see that Chelsea are sometimes lost and don’t know what to do. Of course, you can’t replace the entire team. The manager is always the first to go. Pochettino always tried to emphasize that Chelsea was a long-term project, but in modern football, club owners don’t have that kind of patience. If Chelsea lose the next game, I think Pochettino will be fired.”
According to AiScore, Chelsea have faced Aston Villa 58 times since 1995. They have won 30 games, lost 14 times, and drawn 14 times. Surprisingly, they have not defeated Villa in their last four attempts in all competitions.