Defeat to Wolves Leaves Pochettino on Thin Ice
Chelsea’s 4-2 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday has left head coach Mauricio Pochettino under severe pressure. The Blues currently find themselves sitting in 12th place in the Premier League.
With just 31 points from 23 games, Chelsea find themselves closer to the relegation zone than the UEFA Champions League places. This has led to portions of the Chelsea fanbase questioning the position of Pochettino.
YouTuber Rory Jennings is a staunch Chelsea supporter and has clearly expressed his desire for the former Spurs boss to be removed from his position immediately.
The question remains, should Mauricio Pochettino still be in the Chelsea dugout for Chelsea’s FA Cup replay at Aston Villa on Wednesday?
Worse than Potter?
Many will suggest that Graham Potter is potentially the worst manager in Chelsea’s history. However, amid Rory’s rant towards the current Chelsea boss, he suggests that this season has been worse than Potter’s time at the club.
Since Pochettino’s arrival in the summer, he’s managed just 15 wins in 31 games across all competitions. However, in the Premier League, his side has lost more games than they’ve won. Across those 31 games in charge, Pochettino averaged just 1.61 points per game.
Conveniently, Potter also managed Chelsea for 31 games but managed three wins less during his time at the club. That averages out at 1.42 points per game, slightly worse than what Pochettino has managed. It’s also important to note that Pochettino has led Chelsea to the Carabao Cup final and victory in that game may be enough to sway the narrative into his favour.
No Individual Improvement?
Rory also claimed that none of Chelsea’s players have improved since Pochettino arrived at Stamford Bridge, but is there substance to that claim?
It’s hard to deny that a lot of Chelsea’s important players haven’t stepped up this season and some have arguably declined. The likes of Thiago Silva, Raheem Sterling, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo have all been largely disappointing.
However, I would say there has been some improvement in the performances of the likes of Conor Gallagher and Mykhailo Mudryk, whilst also getting a tune out of new-signing Cole Palmer. This Chelsea side are more of a threat than they were under Frank Lampard and Graham Potter, but consistency is still a huge miss.
Doomed From the Start?
Many will suggest that the highlight of Pochettino’s managerial career was his spell at Chelsea’s rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. Pochettino guided Spurs to a 3rd place finish in the Premier League and a UEFA Champions League Final in 2019, which they lost 2-0 to Liverpool.
Jennings suggests that this is a massive stumbling block, lying between Pochettino and the Chelsea faithful. Rory claims: “He’s horrible. He is from Tottenham. He is completely inadequate, he is incapable and he is unfit for the office of Chelsea manager. We are woeful, we are truly abysmal and for some reason, they aren’t talking about sacking him and I cannot understand it.”
It seems pretty clear that a lot of the personal issues towards Pochettino stem from his time at Spurs, proving that rivalry is still at the forefront of supporter’s thoughts.
Poch Out, Mourinho In?
After spending £1 billion on new players, there’s no way that Chelsea should be sitting in the bottom half of the Premier League table. If the Blues were to be knocked out of the FA Cup by Aston Villa and then suffer a disappointing result at Crystal Palace in the Premier League, then surely Pochettino’s position would become untenable.
After those games, Chelsea face a run of incredibly difficult games against Manchester City, Brentford, Newcastle United, Arsenal and Manchester United- with the Carabao Cup Final against Liverpool wedged in the middle.
I’d be very surprised if Pochettino is still in the Chelsea dugout at the end of March. With Jose Mourinho currently available on the market, perhaps the former boss could restore some harmony and unity to the ranks at Stamford Bridge.
