Chelsea in a dive: Pochettino’s problems never end

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When Mauricio Pochettino (51) took over at Chelsea FC from his failed predecessor Frank Lampard in July, there was a sense of optimism among supporters and executives. The expectations of the Argentinian coach are high. As with his previous coaching position at Tottenham Hotspur, he is tasked with getting Chelsea back on the road to success with a young and talented team.

However, barely two months after he was hired, the euphoria has faded. And in London people are wondering: will Pochettino’s time soon be over? His team has just two wins after seven games. And that against competition newcomer Luton Town (3:0) and in the EFL Cup against Wimbledon from the lower division (2:1). Not a benchmark that Chelsea actually wants to measure themselves against. Especially after spending 462 million euros on transfers and being dependent on income. The Blues paid 116 million euros for midfielder Moises Caicedo (21) alone.

Persistent bad luck with injuries

In total, the club management around Todd Boehly (50) has attracted 16 new players, 17 of whom left in the most recent transfer period. Only three actors are older than 25 years old. This means: Pochettino must form a young and completely new team into a cohesive unit and play successful football.

As if that wasn’t difficult enough, about a dozen players are currently out due to injuries. Therefore, the available players occasionally find themselves in unfamiliar positions on the field. One of them is centre-back Levi Colwill, who had to switch to the left as traditional left-backs Ben Chilwell and Marc Cucurella were unavailable. Midfielder Enzo Fernández is also currently playing in a more attacking role than he would like.

Misunderstanding within the team

This has led to misunderstandings in the game structure in previous games. After the recent 0-1 defeat to Aston Villa, Pochettino said: “One thing I’m disappointed about is that the centre-backs try to get forward too often. They confuse our attacking players and give the opponent the opportunity to get too many chances.”

Yet he also attributes the dire situation to the injuries. ‘We cannot change reality. There are too many players who are not available to us. We will be strong when we are whole again. But what should we do?” The question shows how perplexed Pochettino is. (Men)

Source : Blick