There is something of the football obsessive about Mauricio Pochettino. One of his habits after a game is to go home and sit with a glass of red wine and watch more football. European football. Argentine football. Game after game. He says he finds it relaxing.
So Pochettino will not be unaware of the challenge he faces next season at Chelsea. He is also self-aware enough to know that he will not solve Chelsea’s problems simply by walking through the door. Of all the things wrong with the London club this season, the identity of the first team manager is not necessarily positioned at the top of the list.
Chelsea should feel fortunate to have Pochettino. Whether they will or not is open to question. Followers of the London club have set a high bar in terms of who they feel is suitable for their football club. As Graham Potter found out, those expectations stretch as far as how a Chelsea manager should behave and how he should talk. Strange.
But they should feel fortunate to have Pochettino and, more widely speaking, so should English football. The Argentine is an elite coach, an astute developer of footballers and a man manager of cleverness. Whether that is enough to sort Chelsea out, heaven only knows.
This the beginning of new Chelsea, Episode Two. Episode One didn’t half have an alluring trailer. Hire a bright young manager with a reputation for team building and player development and allow him to build a squad in his own image over time. It went very well until results turned bad and then chairman Todd Boehly tore up his own script and kicked him out.
Chelsea will be lucky to have a manager of Mauricio Pochettino’s elite calibre
Frank Lampard has struggled in his short tenure at the club, and has left the former Tottenham boss with a tricky turnaround job
And so, via Frank Lampard’s vaguely embarrassing short tenure, we have arrived at Episode Two. At least this time none of us are under any illusions. New Chelsea is pretty much the same as old Chelsea, just dressed up in a different outfit.
If Pochettino doesn’t turn this great club around and place it back in the Champions League positions next season then doubtless he will be on his way, too. But at least we know that now.
The good news is that Pochettino will find some very good footballers waiting for him at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground. The bad news is that there are too many of them and not all of them play in the really important positions, like centre forward for example.
Of all the baffling things that have taken place since Boehly’s Blue Partners Limited took Chelsea off the hands of Roman Abramovich in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the manner in which the club has stockpiled expensive footballers seemingly without strategy has perhaps been most baffling. There have been some good ones but that still doesn’t necessarily mean they are the right ones.
Chelsea will soon find that Pochettino wishes to be across all this. The former Tottenham manager has a way he likes his football teams to play and a way he likes his players to be. Both physically and emotionally.
The Spurs team that ran Leicester close to the line in that wonderful Premier League title dual in 2016 was athletic, powerful and exceptionally committed.
Those that deviated from the creed did not last the course. Peak Pochettino football is played with an intensity and a selflessness. It is no surprise that players such as Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen blossomed under him. Equally, it was to the shock of nobody when he couldn’t get his message across at his most recent posting at Paris Saint-Germain.
This feels like a good job for the South American. Manchester United would have felt like that, too. He came close to that one before Erik ten Hag pipped him. A return to Tottenham would not have felt right as there is too much history there. Real Madrid? Maybe for the short term.
Chelsea drew 2-2 with relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest on Saturday
Todd Boehly’s stockpiling of expensive players has left Pochettino with a tough squad to manage
So Chelsea have the right man but it now depends on what kind of Chelsea they wish to be.
Of all the baffling moments scattered through the club’s recent history, none remains as vexing as the decision to sign a centre forward like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on September 2 last year and then appoint a manager like Potter six days later.
This is exactly the kind of fractured thinking that must be consigned to Chelsea’s past. Unless they find a way to function cohesively and intelligently away from the training pitches, it will never matter who the guy is standing in the middle of them with the whistle in his mouth.
Pochettino’s inbox will be full to bursting. He doesn’t have a functioning striker and, no, the returning Romelu Lukaku does not count.
One of the smartest and most likeable managers is back in the game and we should be thankful for that. But, for Chelsea, Pochettino should not be mistaken for the answer to their problems all on his own.
Romelu Lukaku’s return, or otherwise, will be one of the key issues to deal with .
source: dailymail.co.uk
