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After just 11 months at the helm, Argentinian gaffer Mauricio Pochettino has been relieved of duties at Chelsea FC. Following a formal performance review of the 2023/2024 season, the gaffer and club have parted ways on mutual consent.
Recall, Pochettino took over this job after his stint with French outfit Paris Saint-Germain. Pochettino, despite an abysmal run of form in the first half of the campaign turned the club’s fortunes around across the turn of the year. Defeating Bournemouth on the final day earned the club a return to European football despite it seeming improbable.
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Pochettino, 52, also led the club to the Carabao cup finsl which they lost courtesy of a late Virgil Van Dijk header.
The Chelsea job stands as the former Espanyol man’s third role in the Premier League. Having earlier been in charge of Southampton and North-London side Tottenham Hotspur. However, leading the latter to the champions league final in 2019 and important top four finishes across his time there.
His dismissal from the role however comes as a shock to the footballing world and fans at large.
Division at the club
Pochettino’s dismissal would stand as the sixth of such by the club in the past 5 years. Graham Potter, Thomas Tuchel and Frank Lampard have all left the role in recent seasons. The referred performance review led by co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart and its conclusion led to this cumulated effect.
According to the released club statements, Sporting Directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley spoke: ‘On behalf of everyone at Chelsea, we would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season. He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career.’
While news of Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea have made public rounds in recent times, he still had at least one year left to run on his contract. Although, the American Todd Boehly has backed him to continue as manager, it appears that has not been the case with Behdad Eghbali and Jose Feliciano.
Run comes to an untimely end
Pochettino’s departure will assuredly follow mixed feelings amongst fans but regardless, he’s began to solve some of the underlying issues with the club side.
He’s established a highly efficient and productive attack as he gradually implemented his playstyle. The defensive fragility looked more like that which could be restructured overtime.
Chelsea spent about a cumulative £400 million pounds in preparation of Pochettino’s first season in charge.
While many of these players fall into the younger curve and some still far to showcase enough to carry the weight of the heavyweight team others have shown remarkable potential.
Under him, Cole Palmer who arrived from Manchester City in the off-season picked up the young player of the season award in addition to his combined 33 goal involvements (highest in the league).
French defender Malo Gusto, mega-signing from Brighton and Hove Albion Moises Caicedo, Christopher Nkunku, goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic amongst others have all shown they are ones to build the team around.
Pochettino on his departure proceeded to appreciate the club’s fans and management whilst wishing the club the very best in the future. He said ‘Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and Sporting Directors for the opportunity to be part of this football club’s history. The Club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come.’
What next?
Just like the Roman Abrahmovic era, it appears as though the current Chelsea management are results oriented and ready to recoup their mega investments.
Ideally, the idea is to forge ahead with a new gaffer for the 2024/2025 season.
Italian manager Roberto De Zerbi is now available having departed Brighton and Hove Albion at the end of the campaign. Sporting CP’s Ruben Amorim and former Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick are also names that have been linked in recent times.
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