says he is ‘not here to do what the people want’ as he hit back at fans who booed his substitutions during the 4-2 win against .
Chelsea are through to the semi-finals of the cup but it was a nervy affair on Sunday at Stamford Bridge.
Marc Cucurella and Cole Palmer gave the home side a 2-0 lead at half-time though it ought to have been three after Raheem Sterling had a controversial penalty saved.
A bizarre Axel Disasi own goal and a Stephy Mavididi wonder goal put the Foxes back on level terms but were later reduced to 10 men after Callum Doyle.
But the Blues failed to take advantage of their extra man, with Sterling putting in an awful performance, for which he was loudly jeered by his own supporters.
Fans were then further outraged when Pochettino made his first sub and didn’t take off the England winger, with Carney Chukwuemeka replacing Mykhailo Mudryk who had been playing well.
There were loud boos and chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ aimed at the manager, before Sterling was eventually hauled off for Noni Madueke.
Ironically, it was Chukwuemeka and Madueke who scored in injury time to send Chelsea to Wembley for the second time this season.
It is not the first time that Pochettino has had to deal with jeers from his own fans and while he once again emphasised the need for supporters to keep the faith, he also passionately defended his tactics.
‘I am not here to do what the people want. Also, I am not stupid,’ he angrily said in his post-match press conference.
‘You know, I think for me, I saw Mudryk and we analyse and he was tired, he was doing some stretching and we thought that maybe he’d not finish the game and then we will decide to go for first for Mudryk and then for Raheem.
‘They [the fans] need to trust in the club. If I am here its because of the faith of the club.
‘If I am here, its because the club think its good from the club.’
He also told BBC Sport: ‘Fans are entitled to show their emotion. For us we try to emphasise with our fans not to criticise.
‘They want the best for our team and players. But we are in a project. We need support and to really believe. We are trying to build something.
‘What the fans want is to win the game and that we achieved. What the fans want is to go to Wembley and that we achieved.
‘I know really well how to manage. They need to trust me to manage in the way I think is the best way for the club.
‘We need to respect their opinion as much as they need to respect my decision.’
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