Olivier Giroud says Chelsea must stick together, following a tricky run of form and a crucial remainder of the season.
All has not been well at Stamford Bridge of late, with Maurizio Sarri finding himself under increasing pressure to save his job.
The Blues are longer favourites to finish in the Premier League top four and missing out on Champions League football again would be a huge blow.
Despite talk of unrest among the Chelsea players, Giroud has called for togetherness.
Speaking to the Telegraph, a France World Cup winner also backed Sarri, despite admitting criticism of him is fair:
I have always had to deal with pressure all throughout my career.
I played big games with my clubs, the national team, and in these kinds of moments you need to stick together and think collectively with togetherness and be positive.
We are not in the best position, but we have big games to come. We want to qualify in every single competition, so United is going to be a massive game. We need momentum and to keep going that way, so we are looking forward to it.
We are not worried about the situation and I am sure Man United will drop points [in the league]. We are confident and we want to carry on with a good spirit and humility.
I think and I believe that it is the case that there’s criticism of the coach, but I haven’t felt anything about them dropping the coach.
I don’t have much to say about that. We stick altogether, the staff and the team. We want to look forward and be positive. That’s it.
We will work on the same path and the same targets.
Chelsea host Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round on Monday evening, in the standout tie of the round.
The return leg against Malmo in the Europa League is on Thursday and the Blues then face Manchester City in Sunday’s EFL Cup final, as the fixtures come thick and fast.
The situation will look a lot clearer at the end of the week, as well as Sarri’s future.
