In what is looking like a massive merry-go-round of managers, Chelsea are in advanced talks with Argentinian coach and former Tottenham Hotspurs manager Maurizio Pochettino. In this article, we are going to investigate why he would be a good fit, what he will bring to this Chelsea side. Is this an unexpectedly good move from Todd Boehly?
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Who is the right fit for Chelsea?
Well, this is a very difficult question to answer as it’s difficult to identify what Chelsea are at the moment. After Todd Boehly’s takeover of the club, players flew in from all over the world for astronomical fees, but do they really play well together as a team? Obviously not, they are currently 11th in the league and are closer to the relegation spots than the top four.
The season started with Thomas Tuchel at the helm, and rumours stated that the German did not really see eye-to-eye with the American owner, and thus they parted ways. Graham Potter was recruited from Brighton after a very successful spell with the seaside team. A couple of months later and even Graham Potter was shown the door after he failed to spark any sort of unity in a team of individual brilliance.
Graham Potter had time to nurture his Brighton side and with the great foundations laid by English owner Tony Bloom they managed to successfully climb up the ladder of success. Time was never an option for Chelsea as they wanted to part ways.
So, what are Chelsea looking for? A quick success story to correlate with the hefty investments injected into the club. In steps Frank Lampard, who was tasked with the job of seeing out the rest of the season and hopefully patch things up until a permanent manager is brought in.
Who are the candidates?
A quick success story in the Premier League is a difficult task to accomplish, even the greats Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp needed at least two seasons to build a team worthy of the title.
A shortlist was drawn up and it had Julian Nagelsmann, who was unjustly axed by German giants Bayern Munich, Luis Enrique who managed FC Barcelona and more recently Spain and lastly Maurizio Pochettino who after leaving Spurs went on to PSG, who by looks of it are always destined to collapse half way through the season.
Maurizio Pochettino
In short, he ticks a lot of Chelsea’s boxes. He has Premier League experience which is vital, he has worked with star players before with both Tottenham and PSG and has helped youngsters develop to become major names in the game. As a 51-year old manager, Pochettino has the French Cup and the Ligue 1 championship to his name but he is hungry to add more to his collection.
The excessive recruitment done by Chelsea will give him plenty of options going forward for Pochettino, something that he yearned for during his time at Tottenham. The best asset is his ability to build relationships with players, get them on his side and allow them to express their talent in the best possible way. He is seen by many as a charismatic manager, who does not have the ego of either Jose Mourinho or Antonio Conte who both managed at Stamford Bridge to great success.
Getting players on your side is not an easy task to accomplish but a world-renowned manager will demand the respect that he deserved to get Chelsea back where they belong. At the very least, the aim for Chelsea would be to finish in the top four and get back into the Champions League.
In Chelsea’s ranks, his work has been admired by many as they kept a close eye on him during his time with Tottenham. He spent over five years at Spurs and built an impressive team who overachieved in reaching the 2018-19 Champions League final.
The prolonged interest in Maurizio Pochettino’s services hints towards a shift in the mentality for Chelsea, they are targetting the long-term rather than short gains in the present. A longer deal might also help the squad build stability and have a solid ground on which to build from. There is also an appreciation, for his tactical nous.
This is a developing story that will have plenty of twists and turns but word from the blindly trusted reporter Fabrizio Romano is that it’s almost ‘here we go’ time.