Former Watford captain has come to the defense of Azpilicueta after the Chelsea captain was seen confronting a Chelsea Fan after their defeat to Arsenal at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea suffered their third consecutive defeat at home after a 4-2 defeat to Arsenal. poor defensive displacement on the part of Chelsea coupled with a few individual errors gave Arsenal the needed result.
Azpilicueta had a mixed game, scoring the second goal for Chelsea but also conceding a late penalty after fouling Bukayo Saka.
After the match, Azpilicueta was seen confronting a Chelsea fan which resulted in a heated exchange between the Chelsea Captain and a group of supporters.
What did Deeney Write?
The Chelsea fans were probably just fed up with that one game and how they expected their side to beat a young and less-expensive Arsenal team,’ Deeney wrote for The Sun.
But I can understand why Azpilicueta was having a go back at them.
‘Players think, “Hold on when we were winning a few weeks ago, things weren’t that bad and you weren’t calling us names and now, because we are on a bad run, you are turning on us?”.
‘That is probably why Azpilicueta responded the way he did. It was more frustrating that Chelsea haven’t had an awful season and now their integrity is being questioned.’
Deeney knows exactly what Azpilicueta is going through, having had his own run-in with fans following Birmingham’s 6-1 loss at Blackpool on Monday.
‘It is a tough situation but certain characters — like Azpilicueta and myself — we handle it a bit differently to most, let’s put it that way,’ the Birmingham captain added.
‘You have to be respectful and professional. Predominantly, it is just about listening. If you talk through their frustrations and get them to calm down, you end up having a decent conversation.
‘All fans want to do is let off some steam. But when you are going through bad times you are expected to answer every question and tell them how it will all be fixed within a week.
‘But, while I may share certain frustrations, I definitely can’t take away all of their problems with the click of my fingers. There are some things you just cannot answer for.
‘Fans may ask, “Why isn’t a certain player playing? Why are we playing a certain formation?”.
‘All that stuff is well above my pay grade. All you can do is listen and say, “I hear your points. I will pass them on”.’
Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen told Chelsea’s 5th Stand app after the match that he understands the frustrations and disappointments of the Fans after their defeat to Arsenal.
When asked about the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge, Andreas Christensen expressed his displeasure saying;
“Everyone wants the best for the club, there’s a lot of passion from us & from the fans which are how it should be. I understand any frustrations because we weren’t good enough & we know we have to do a lot better.
We want to do this for the fans because we are all proud to play for this club. We have to go again and I’m sure the fans will be there again at the weekend to support us, which we need.”
