Raheem Sterling has dropped down the pecking order recently. The forward has been routinely whistled at and booed by Chelsea fans this season and it's clear that his performances do not match the expectations.
"It's because we assess all the player's performance, and I think we need to be fair, or trying to be fair, and we gave the opportunity to Noni Madueke to play," Mauricio Pochettino said when asked to explain why Sterling didn't start against Sheffield United. "And to put Palmer in another position to find a good balance.
"You know, we've got to get [someone] on the left, and I think it's because we assess the player's form and then make a decision. It's only for that. Not because of the situation (fans targeting Sterling), [that isn’t] going to make me change my mind.
"And I think the team is not suffering for this. It's only because I analyse the form of the player. And then I need to make decisions. He didn't play in Sheffield because, in the same way we assess the squad, we assess the player, and we assess the player's form.
"We got some feelings because we see the players training every day. We, in our opinion and assessment, believe that they are the best players to play because they are performing well or better than another. You know that’s how we made the choice."
