Now the season is over, Chelsea have announced what we’ve known for a while: Mauricio Pochettino is their new manager.
Reportedly, the former Spurs and PSG boss has signed a two year contract with an option for a third year.
Chelsea’s first season under the ownership of Todd Boehly was chaotic, to say the least. They had three different managers and signed so many players they couldn’t even train them all properly.
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Mauricio Pochettino is a good choice in that he is one of the best managers currently available. However, Chelsea’s situation is so unprecedented it’s hard to pinpoint who their ideal manager would be.
If you look at Chelsea while squinting and turning your head to the left, you can just about see the makings of a Mauricio Pochettino team.
Mauricio Pochettino overachieved at Spurs by rallying a young team around him and getting the most out of the supreme talents of Hueng-Min Son and Harry Kane.
At Chelsea, he’ll have Enzo Fernandez, Benoit Badiashile, Christopher Nkunku and Mikhailo Mudryk to work with. That’s potentially the spine of a good team, but it’s all the malfunctioning parts around it that will be the problem.
Pochettino’s biggest task will be to find a reliable source of goals. They scored just 38 goals in 38 Premier League games last season and lacked an assertive finisher.
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Kai Havertz is talented but not a killer. Raheem Sterling’s best goalscoring days are behind him. Nobody believes it will be third time lucky for Romelu Lukaku at Stamford Bridge when he returns from his loan.
Nkunku is promising, but he’s not guaranteed to settle in well at the club. If Boehly gives Pochettino space and time to work, he could turn the fortunes of some of those players around.
Chelsea fans will hope he does, because they’re running out of good managers who are willing to work there at this point.
