Mauricio Pochettino warns Noni Madueke to ‘be careful’ after winger hit out at Chelsea fans for turning on the Blues and BOOING Raheem Sterling

Mauricio Pochettino told Noni Madueke to ‘be careful’ after the winger criticised the Chelsea fans for booing Raheem Sterling. 

The Blues fans turned on Pochettino’s team during their FA Cup quarter-final against Leicester on March 17.

Chelsea advanced to the semi-finals but it was a day to forget for Sterling who missed a host of great chances and was booed on three separate occasions by his own supporters.

Among those misses was a tame penalty after he took the ball off team-mate Cole Palmer.

Sterling was then jeered off by sections of the home supporters when he was replaced by Mykhailo Mudryk after 72 minutes. 

Sterling jeered off by sections of the home supporters against Wolves and Newcastle

Madueke (left) said the criticism of his team-mate Sterling (right) has been ‘harsh’ and ‘unfair’ 

The fans booed the team, chanting ‘we’re f***ing s**t’ and singing the name of former owner Roman Abramovich. 

They also taunted Pochettino during their games with Newcastle and Wolves, singing ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ for his substitutions and continued to jeer Sterling. 

Speaking after the game against Newcastle, Madueke said: ‘It’s so important (to support Sterling). I’m nobody to tell you not to have an opinion but I also have mine.

‘That’s one of my team-mates and the criticism is harsh and unfair. It’s our duty to voice our opinion and try to change the narrative a bit.’

He finished by saying: ‘Raheem is an exceptional footballer and an even better person. It’s a bit upsetting when I see some of the criticism.’ 

Pochettino also spoke up for Sterling, but insisted Madueke needed to be careful about the comments he was making about the fans.  

‘It’s about being calm now and accepting the situation,’ Pochettino said during his pre-match press conference on Thursday. 

‘The most important [thing] is to deal with this situation with our experience, and Raheem is a very experienced player.’

The Chelsea manager went on to add: ‘What we cannot do is create bigger things because of our emotions. 

‘I really believe our fans love our players and for sure they are going to support Raheem and the result of the team. 

Chelsea dropped into the bottom half of the Premier League table with the defeat to Wolves

The players were booed off as the Blues’ miserable season continued and pressure built

‘The team-mates need to be good team-mates and players can talk and express their emotions and their opinions. 

‘But I think we need to be careful in the way we are talking and giving our opinions because we need to build a strong relationship with everyone. 

‘I said after the game [vs Leicester] that I don’t agree [with booing] because always the players want to play well and score goals.

‘I was also suffering the anger of the fans because of the disappointment. The whole team were suffering but the most important thing is Raheem is an experienced player, so for sure he understands.

‘Look, now we need to move on and to help protect the player, that is our responsibility and the player must understand they need to make the effort to try and convince the fans we are in a very good way.

Blues fans also chanted for former owner, Roman Abramovich, who was forced to sell the club when Russia invaded Ukraine

‘The players need to love the fans and the fans need to love the players, it’s a connection we need to create because if not everyone is going to lose.’

Pochettino finished by saying: ‘That’s why we need to be careful with the way we talk about our opinions and emotions.’