The Blues are in danger of turning their fanbase against them after parting with the Argentine by mutual consent
Chelsea fans should be desensitised to managerial sackings by now. Since 2000, 23 men have sat in the Stamford Bridge hot seat. However, when Mauricio Pochettino's departure was confirmed on Tuesday, the outpouring of outrage was palpable.
It was comparable to the backlash Todd Boehly and Co received when fan favourite Thomas Tuchel was shown the exit door – and the supporters weren't the only ones hacked off. Striker Nicolas Jackson also hinted at his frustration in a charged farewell post on social media.
"Love you, coach. Wish we could stay together more. But may God continue to bless you and your family. Thanks for the advice and support, you're a true lion and fighter, wish you all the best," he wrote on Instagram, accompanying the post with a pair of facepalm emojis.
These sentiments are likely shared by other members of the Chelsea squad too. Throughout everything this season, the players have retained faith in their manager. And they were rewarded at the end of the campaign, when a spectacular five-game winning run secured a sixth-placed finish. Now though, that positive feeling has been obliterated and Chelsea are back to square one.
GettyIt had been coming
Pochettino's exit wasn't a complete surprise, though. Over the last few months tensions have evidently been building at Stamford Bridge, with the manager directing a few barbs at the club during his press conferences.
After Chelsea were pumped 5-0 by Arsenal in April, he seemingly took aim at the club's recruitment strategy. "That is the circumstances we are living with. Listen, from the beginning of the season, we were suffering with too many situations that were not helping," he said.
Then, after an impressive 2-1 win over Brighton, Pochettino said: "That is not my team. That's Chelsea team. Not my team," before going on to complain that his team still wasn't grasping the style he wanted to impose.
Perhaps the most telling evidence that all was not well behind the scenes came before a trip to Nottingham Forest earlier this month. Speaking ahead of that game, Pochettino claimed "it will not be the end of the world" if he parted company with Blues at the end of the season.
"If we are happy, perfect. But it is not only if the owners are happy or the sporting directors [are] happy. You need to ask us also, because maybe (we) say ‘we are not happy’ and we accept the situation and we need to split," he added.
AdvertisementGettyWhy Pochettino has left
The root of the disharmony at Chelsea stems from Pochettino's desire to have more control at the club. This should not come as a shock. Back when they were courting the former Spurs man, he initially rebuffed their advances due to concerns over how much autonomy he would have due to the presence of sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley.
Publicly, Chelsea have always insisted that the trio work in tandem when identifying and signing players. Although Pochettino's barbed comments in recent times surely suggest otherwise.
As reported by , recruitment philosophy wasn't the only area in which the two parties clashed. A disagreement over the merits of hiring a set-piece coach in January spoke to wider philosophical differences. "Football belongs to the players. Not to the specialists," he boldly proclaimed.
It seems a strange thing to get so animated about. Although perhaps it's indicative of Pochettino's desire to wrestle power away from the club's sporting directors. Ultimately, this was a battle he was never going to win, with the pair's close relationship with co-owner Behdad Eghbali meaning their position is secure. The fact that Brentford set-piece coach Bernardo Cueva joined the club shortly after this exchange is telling. Something had to give, and that something turned out to be Pochettino.
Getty ImagesA largely promising season
The outcome is a frustrating one for fans and players, as there's clearly been progress under his leadership this season. After a dire start, with late transfer arrivals, injuries and a bloated squad all contributing to a run of just five wins from their first 16 Premier League games, things started to click into place under Pochettino in the second half of the campaign.
The individual brilliance of Cole Palmer played a huge part in this upturn in fortunes, but in the last few months of the campaign especially, Chelsea looked more organised both with and without the ball. A resolute display in a 2-0 victory over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge at the beginning of the month showed off their newfound, defensive steel and they followed this up with a flashy 5-0 triumph over West Ham before winning their final three league fixtures.
Taking 2024 results alone, only title contenders Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal picked up more Premier League points than Chelsea. And over the entire campaign, they registered the fourth-best expected goal difference in the division. Considering that Chelsea had the lowest average age in the entire Premier League, even with 39-year-old Thiago Silva among their ranks, and taking into account their horrendous 2022-23 campaign, Pochettino deserves massive credit.
GettyDealt a bad hand
You can even make a case that many of the on-field issues that dogged Chelsea were beyond Pochettino's control. At the meeting that decided his future, Eghbali is understood to have presented data showing how many big chances the Blues missed this season.
Anyone with an inkling about running a football club might take the view that the manager can do very little about this problem. Composure in front of goal comes with experience, something that Chelsea's recruitment team have disregarded over the past few transfer windows.
The Blues also made the highest number of defensive errors leading to opposition shots in the Premier League. Again, can individual mistakes of this nature really be attributed to Pochettino? This is surely a predictable by-product of having the youngest squad in the league. Chelsea's discipline problem – they picked up more yellow cards than any other Premier League side this season – might also be blamed on their players' lack of in-game nous.
And don't forget about the injuries. Pochettino essentially never had the opportunity to field his full-strength side this term. Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia and Christopher Nkunku missed most, if not all of the season, while starting full-back pairing Ben Chilwell and Reece James have been mostly absent too. Various other key players, such as Enzo Fernandez and Benoit Badiashile have sat out huge chunks of the season too. It's hard to say how much of a role Pochettino's training methods have played here, but the mass turnover in the club's medical team would suggest other factors were at play too.