The search for a new manager is over at Chelsea with the club set to appoint a familiar face in Mauricio Pochettino. They reached a deal on a two-year contract with an option for a third.
The former Tottenham manager has been out of the game following a tumultuous stint with Paris Saint-Germain. He left a chaotic job in PSG to join another one at Chelsea.
Chelsea spent an exorbitant amount of money in transfers following the takeover of Todd Boehly. Thomas Tuchel was sacked, replaced by Graham Potter, only for Potter to be sacked and replaced by Frank Lampard.
Suffice to say Lampard’s second stint at the club didn’t go well. In fact, many would argue it went worse. Had he arrived earlier, we very well could be talking about how close Chelsea were to being relegated.
Pochettino faces an uphill battle.
With the amount of new players brought in, he now has to decide which he wants to keep. The problem is if it won’t be easy moving on from some of the newly acquired players given how much was paid for them. There’s also the contract status regarding Mason Mount who hasn’t signed an extension and has one foot out of the club.
Pochettino must have been made aware of this during their negotiations. Chelsea are hoping they got this appointment right as they cannot afford another season like this most recent one.
“Mauricio’s experience, standards of excellence, leadership qualities and character will serve Chelsea Football Club well as we move forward,” the club said in a statement.
“He is a winning coach, who has worked at the highest levels, in multiple leagues and languages. His ethos, tactical approach and commitment to development all made him the exceptional candidate.”
Pochettino’s most successful stint was at Tottenham where he was able to mold the young players at the club to believe in his tactics. PSG was filled with brilliant players with egos to match. It’s one of the reasons why his stint there was, by all accounts, a failure.
Whether or not the players at Chelsea will be as receptive as Spurs’ remains to be seen. What he has in his favor is with how poor they performed under Lampard, Pochettino’s arrival will be a breath of fresh air with renewed optimism.
Perhaps the most significant part of this announcement is it’s come so soon after the end of the season that Pochettino will have an entire summer to get to know his team and vice-versa.