Enigmatic Chelsea floundering under Mauricio Pochettino

In the last two seasons, Chelsea has had five different managers in its dugout, with Mauricio Pochettino serving the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign. Despite the different tactics, personalities, lineups and changes at Stamford Bridge, the club has not found one stretch of form that it can look at with pleasure. Any time Chelsea puts a string of games together with positive results, it backs it up with equally embarrassing results.

For example, look at Chelsea’s 4-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur. At the time, Spurs was leading the table. A wild game with two red cards and four disallowed goals eventually led to a 4-1 win on the road for Chelsea. Pochettino’s side then drew with Manchester City, 4-4. After a loss at Newcastle when Chelsea was down a man, the Blues stormed back to beat Brighton, a team in the Europa League knockout stage. Yet, in its last two games, Chelsea soundly lost to both Manchester United and Everton, two clubs that have looked dreadful this season at times.

Pochettino made sharp remarks after the loss against Everton. He said Chelsea needs a stiff reality check. In particular, he needs signings that fit his style.

“After four or five months and 16 Premier League games, it is [time to] assess,” Pochettino said. “I am not saying we need to ask for more players or less players, but it is [time] to see if the perception matches the reality. If expectation is here (high) and reality is here (low), it is because we are missing something in the middle. Maybe we need to improve our reality.”

Explaining the capitulation of Chelsea with Mauricio Pochettino at the helm

The Argentine boss is alluding to the quality of players at his disposal. Chelsea has been dominant in possession, which is similar to the Pochettino sides of old at Spurs and PSG. However, defensive leaks and lack of finishing have spiraled Chelsea into the bottom half of the table.

But, when one looks at how Chelsea got to this position, there are things Chelsea is responsible for. Then, there are things Pochettino is responsible for. Finally, there is simple bad luck.

Starting with the bad luck, injuries have been rampant in the Chelsea ranks this season. It is not exclusive to one position or player. Instead, the knocks stretch across the pitch. Looking at the attackers, Christopher Nkunku has yet to play a game for Chelsea competitively this season. He lit up the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig, and he would bring much-needed creativity to Chelsea. Romeo Lavia and Carney Chukwuemeka have missed extended time, too. That takes away some of the depth in the midfield for Pochettino. Then, defensively, long-term injuries to Ben Chilwell, Wesley Fofana and Trevoh Chalobah have taken away some of the possibilities at the back.

However, the injuries add to one of the mounting issues at Chelsea. There is no consistency over a lineup or tactics. Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Bruno Saltor, Frank Lampard and now Mauricio Pochettino each bring different ideas to the table. Having any player adjust that many times to tactics can lead to inherent confusion. Moreover, these players arrived at different times and, thus, under different managers. Chelsea’s starting 11 against Everton included players bought by Pochettino, Potter, Tuchel and managers before that.

Chelsea has been reckless with its spending. It is one thing to target these young players that can develop. It is another to give them ample opportunity to develop. Chelsea is going to go through tough times as these players find their footing with new teammates and, sometimes, in a new league.

Pochettino fans the fire with want of more signings

Now, Pochettino’s comments replay memories of past managers. Thomas Tuchel said he desperately needed signings in the week before he was dismissed. Of course, just before then, Tuchel splashed over $50 million each on Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella and Raheem Sterling in the summer of 2022. Graham Potter got reinforcements in the winter with Mykhailo Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez. The latter broke the record for the most expensive signing in the Premier League.

Pochettino broke that record with Moises Caicedo. In total, Pochettino spent over $500 million on players. Instead of saying the squad he has at his disposal is the issue, he should work on making what he can out of his situation.

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