The Next Manager?

[NikkiCFC 7,591]

3 hours ago, lucio said:

What momentum ?We are 9th in the table.  Poch is never going to win fuckall , we need a winner not a loser 

We didn't lose 12 games. 2 and a half months. 

[lucio 5,403]

3 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

We didn't lose 12 games. 2 and a half months. 

Drawing with sheffield and Burnley isn’t momentum , we will get torn apart vs arsenal , Tottenham and city tomorrow too. 

[lucio 5,403]

People still deluding themselves that poch isn’t complete dogshit and will actually win trophies given enough time 😂 

[Vesper 27,342]

Same old Wembley performance for Chelsea. Something needs to change – is it the manager?

https://theathletic.com/5432394/2024/04/21/Chelsea-wembley-pochettino/

Like a bad movie franchise with too many sequels, Chelsea lost at Wembley by following a very familiar script.

All the main plot lines were there in Chelsea’s 1-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City: bad finishing, poor game management at key moments, sloppy defending to concede, no luck, and at least one big decision by the match officials not going their way.

It was just oh-so-predictable, right? Like you had seen this game play out before and knew the ending long before it actually came — well, the EFL Cup Final loss to Liverpool did unfold in a similar fashion just two months before.

Unlike their last visit to the national stadium in February, there was no coming second-best to inexperienced players in extra time and accusations of being ‘bottle jobs’ afterwards. However there was a similarity in how things were stacked in their favour and they failed to make the most of it. In this case, Chelsea faced a Manchester City side that were shattered, both physically and mentally, following their Champions League exit to Real Madrid less than 72 hours before.

This was another reminder that things have to change for Chelsea to become a major force again. After all, this is the first time since Roman Abramovich took control in 2003 that the club have gone successive seasons without a trophy.

Here are just a few of the key factors that need to be considered over the weeks and months ahead…

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Does Mauricio Pochettino stay or go?

Chelsea always planned to assess the season after its conclusion and one of the aspects under most scrutiny will be Pochettino’s performance.

The hope was that Chelsea would qualify for the Champions League via a top-four finish in the Premier League. That has been out of the question for months and the team needs a strong end to the campaign just to book a spot in the Europa League or Conference League. Reaching the latter stages of both domestic cup competitions has provided cause for optimism, but not lifting either trophy also raises questions — not for the first time in his career — over whether Pochettino is a ‘winner’.

There are mitigating circumstances for the underachievement. The injury list has been consistently large all season, robbing Pochettino of competition within the ranks and options to explore.

Most of the squad were bought before the Argentine took over last July. With a number of players yet to justify their price tags, does the blame lie with the head coach or with those responsible for the recruitment? In saying that, one of the reasons Pochettino was hired was due to his record of working with, and improving, young players.

Pochettino has one year left on his contract, plus the option for another 12 months. The 52-year-old is not talking like a man who expects to be going anywhere soon. There have been several references lately, including in the aftermath of Saturday’s game, to what he thinks needs to happen next season and conversations he intends to have with the hierarchy about it.

There are not a vast array of top-quality coaches available for hire. Then you have to consider teams like Liverpool and Bayern Munich, who have vacancies, will be far more attractive propositions than Chelsea at the moment.

Pochettino is well liked and respected within the club. There will be fans who think he should be gone regardless, but this should only be considered if there is a better option willing to take his place. Finding a successor did not tend to be a problem in the Roman Abramovich era, you cannot say the same now.

Sign more experienced players

Chelsea have one of the youngest squads in the Premier League and with Thiago Silva expected to leave this summer, one of the few ‘leaders’ they possess will be gone.

Pochettino has consistently highlighted the immaturity of his players as a reason for their inconsistency. Ahead of the Everton game last week, he suggested that adapting the strategy (buying talent with potential under the age of 25) is a topic that will be discussed over the coming weeks.

Nobody is suggesting Chelsea should suddenly change tack by acquiring lots of players in their late twenties or early thirties on high salaries. Pochettino is not saying that either, but the arrival of one or two more established names would help.

Improve the use of substitutes

This topic is particularly relevant if Pochettino stays. Yes, he will undoubtedly point to games where he has made changes and it has paid off. Yet more often than not, it has felt like decisions have come too late, that Pochettino is reactive rather than proactive.

Saturday provided another instance. Chelsea were starting to labour in attack and yet Raheem Sterling, who scored home and away against Manchester City in the Premier League this season, did not come on until the 88th minute, four minutes after Bernardo Silva put City in front. The first two Chelsea substitutions came in the 79th minute and one of those was forced due to right-back Malo Gusto suffering an injury.

Pochettino often complains about senior players being tired but is reluctant to use academy players to lighten the load. The way Cesare Casadei has barely featured since being recalled from loan at Leicester in January is a prime example.

Buy a centre-forward

Nicolas Jackson has shown promise but needs someone to at least share the burden of leading the line. Chelsea have not been helped by Christopher Nkunku making only 10 appearances (just two starts) since joining from RB Leipzig last summer due to injury.

Finding a sure thing will not be easy. It is a competitive market and with the possibility of no European football to offer, Chelsea will be at a disadvantage. Strikers do not come cheap and their ability to adhere to profit and sustainability rules is an increasing concern.

But Chelsea need to resolve this issue. Chelsea’s struggles at Wembley epitomise the problem. Their last goal there was scored by Mason Mount in the FA Cup semi-final two years ago. Chelsea have played there for 344 minutes since without finding the net.

GO DEEPER

What Chelsea's latest accounts tell us about their PSR prospects

 

[Special Juan 27,104]

I'm not a Poch fan but fuck me to blame him for that on Saturday is weak and pathetic, if your going to blame anyone blame Jackson the useless cunt

[ulvhedin 473]

1 hour ago, Special Juan said:

I'm not a Poch fan but fuck me to blame him for that on Saturday is weak and pathetic, if your going to blame anyone blame Jackson the useless cunt

our set up was terrible, City was average, but because Jackson was terrible people will be excusing Poch and blaming Jackson only.

[bluesman2610 1,227]

45 minutes ago, ulvhedin said:

our set up was terrible, City was average, but because Jackson was terrible people will be excusing Poch and blaming Jackson only.

Incorrect we were set up to beat them and had more and better clear-cut chances that loss was not on Poch but the execution of the players both offensively and defensively. We stifled them for 83 minutes and should have been 2 or 3 nil up before they scored. Such is life the agenda against the man for past mistakes doesn't mean you can't objectively look at his work now.

[MoroccanBlue 5,200]

You can blame Poch for the past 9 months but certainly not Saturday. Only issue for me was him not putting in Chuku when we needed more quality going forward. 

[Special Juan 27,104]

1 hour ago, ulvhedin said:

our set up was terrible, City was average, but because Jackson was terrible people will be excusing Poch and blaming Jackson only.

Read that back to yourself, you are deluded.

[milka 3,308]

It is not his fault that he has to work with a kindergarten, but it is clear that he has no character even among these mediocre players, that he is the boss and even to say who is the main penalty taker. If it was Mourinho, those spoiled kids in the dressing room would have been sent to the academy to train a long time ago. But because there are no characters in the team, these kids do whatever they want.

[bluesman2610 1,227]

These players fight over who gets to take a penalty in a game we are winning comfortably but when we need them to really step up and show why they deserve to take a pen they don't. 

[lucio 5,403]

Poch made the call not to drop Jackson or Madueke so there’s that. Their sporting performances alone are enough to justify being axed let alone their penalty antics 

[lucio 5,403]

Thiago mottas Bologna currently beating Roma 

[lucio 5,403]

make a play for him 

 

[MoroccanBlue 5,200]

1 hour ago, lucio said:

make a play for him 

 

 

2 hours ago, lucio said:

Thiago mottas Bologna currently beating Roma 

Zirkzee is some footballer. 

[bluesman2610 1,227]

23 minutes ago, MoroccanBlue said:

 

Zirkzee is some footballer. 

I’ve been calling for us to look at him as our striker since January.. He can flat out score has great hold up play and strength.

[ulvhedin 473]

16 hours ago, Special Juan said:

Read that back to yourself, you are deluded.

sure, puting Gallagher on wing, playing Madueke, puting Disasi on Doku, all great calls. Jackson sucks, but people defending Poch all season baffles me. 

[Vesper 27,342]

15 hours ago, bluesman2610 said:

I’ve been calling for us to look at him as our striker since January.. He can flat out score has great hold up play and strength.

Aston Villa will be keen to sign Joshua Zirkzee during the summer transfer window to play alongside Ollie Watkins instead of replacing him, according to Alan Hutton.

https://www.astonvillanews.co.uk/2024/04/23/aston-villa-ollie-watkins-exit-prediction-emerges-amid-new-joshua-zirkzee-transfer-update/

The England international has been in excellent form under Unai Emery this season, scoring 19 goals and laying on 12 assists in 33 league matches but his displays won’t have gone unnoticed by teams at the top of the Premier League.

Villa are expected to add to their forward line come the end of the season, with reports linking the Villans with a potential £60million move for Bologna forward Zirkzee who has scored 11 goals in 30 Serie A games this term [Il Resto del Carlino newspaper, 10 April].

While Hutton believes Watkins will be looking over his shoulder if Zirkzee makes the switch to Villa Park this summer, he doesn’t think that the 28-year-old will be under any pressure for his place if a new striker is signed.

“I think if you look at how Villa play, it can be two up front,” Hutton told Villa News.

“Normally it is Watkins and another. McGinn has played up there, Bailey can play in there, Diaby can play in there so it might be more of that.

 

“It lightens the burden for Ollie Watkins but I always think as a player it’s funny, say I was at right back and the club were looking at a £25million right-back you’re thinking he’ll be playing.

“Your squad always has to get stronger, you can’t stand still. Ollie Watkins, for me, is not under any pressure at all. He’s been absolutely outstanding, the go-to guy, his goals, his assists, he’s had a fantastic season.

“This will be to help him out, to either play alongside him or whatever, but £60million is a lot.”