The Chelsea left-back has hit back at claims that there are divisions in the dressing room following the FA Cup win vs Aston Villa.
Ben Chilwell says the atmosphere in the Chelsea dressing room before Wednesday’s 3-0 FA Cup replay win over Aston Villa was the “best” he has witnessed so far.
The Blues have been accused of being disjointed and non cohesive amid a drab season that has led to fingers being pointed towards Mauricio Pochettino. Two worrying defeats to Liverpool and Wolves during the previous seven days had cranked up the pressure on the Argentine at Stamford Bridge.
Pochettino and Thiago Silva had to hold brief talks before the Villa game after the player’s wife suggested on social media that the manager should be sacked following the 4-2 loss to Wolves. "Of course he came to talk and we talked and I think that was private. And that's it. It's a private thing to keep inside," said Pochettino.
The Chelsea boss has denied that he has a fractured squad and speaking after the win at Villa Park, captain Chilwell hailed the unity of the team. "That was exactly the reaction we wanted and needed,” he told reporters, as per The Standard . "We wanted that pressure. We thrived off it. The confidence before the game in the changing room - the togetherness - was the best I have seen.
"We delivered on the pitch. It wasn't just the manager - the players, the staff, the fans, everyone associated with the club needed that today. Fair play to all the boys."
Conor Gallagher grabbed his first goal of the season for the opener following a month of speculation about his future. The midfielder admitted it was a relief to “finally” get on the scoresheet and emphasised that the squad is better than their previous two results suggest.
He said: “I think after our last couple of performances everyone was determined to have a good one and it was, and most importantly, a win as well. There was a lot of hunger and that's what we need every game.
“I think before the game you could sense that, because the last two games have not been good enough by our standards. Everyone was really up for it and raring to give our fans a good performance and we did
“We know how we can play - we showed that. A lot of times this season we haven't been good enough, but also a lot of times we have been really good against the top teams, so we know how good we can be.
"We're really buzzing and Villa are a top team, so to beat them, and the way we did it, was brilliant. We will take a lot of confidence from that and hopefully take it into the next game."
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