Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino defended Conor Gallagher from social media trolls who criticized his behavior prior to their Burnley game.
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Pochettino defends Gallagher
A video went viral of Gallagher accidentally missing a high-five from a Black mascot after acknowledging a white mascot.
The fans quickly accused the midfielder of being racist.
Pochettino addressed the media on Wednesday ahead of Chelsea’s home game against Manchester United to defend Gallagher.
“That has upset me so much because no one wants to do something like this with this intention,” said the Argentine coach.
“He was so wary of too many videos, photography and pictures about if he was really aware of both mascots. When you play football, when you are there and you are focusing on too many things, you focus to play, to start the game, that sometimes can happen.”
“But I think people want to abuse people. People always try to find things to create a mess and to abuse the people that, if you know … I know Conor, and I know the people that are involved here in Chelsea. I can talk for the people that I know and come on, never is that intention. Conor is a great, great kid and is always caring about everything.”
Pochettino points out problems on social media
Pochettino, 52, also pointed out the negative effects of social media, which has also affected him.
He also added that most people measure their value based on their social media following.
“The problem with social media today it is like a compulsory thing if you want to communicate with your fans and it is something that measures your value, depending on the followers you have on Twitter, X, Instagram, Facebook, I don’t know.
“These type of platforms that put you in a value in front of society, That is the problem because we are seeing so many things that are wrong in society.”
“We are a little bit responsible also. We open the door, all the documentaries that people can see. But what do we want to see? We want to see when they are discussing, when you are fighting but never things that are good, happy things. No, find the wrong things.
“That is the society that we are all involved and we can blame no one. We need to accept it is like this but be very careful in the way that we behave and of course to pay more attention to these type of things that can damage your image, and the people can see you in a way that you are not real. Even when we want cheat the people.”
