Why Mauricio Pochettino is Chelsea's ideal managerial candidate
Todd Boehly's first season at the helm of Chelsea Football Club could hardly have been more disastrous.
The Blues headed into the summer of 2022 as the reigning club world champions. They'd experienced a dip in form at the back end of last season, but given the sanctions the club were under, that was at least understandable.
In Thomas Tuchel, Boehly had one of the best and most tactically flexible head coaches in world Football to help steer his vision, with the American tycoon appointing himself as the interim sporting director for his first transfer window.
Perhaps the alarm bells should have been ringing when Tuchel had to talk Boehly out of an ill-advised move for Cristiano Ronaldo.
The summer of Boehly saw Chelsea spend a world record £271.1m on transfers. Tuchel was inexplicably fired one week after the window closed.
A strange decision, sure, but not one without reason (even if the reason isn't a particularly good one). In American sports, the owners of new franchises are known to act impulsively after purchasing a team. They go wild and get busy, making big moves for big hitters.
Boehly saw something in Graham Potter, a tactical tinkerer who oversaw Brighton's transition from relegation battlers to a solid mid-table side.
But his whole tenure was marred by strange formation and personnel choices, which were largely a backdrop for another chaotic and expensive transfer window.
The briefs came out - Cobham's training facilities could not physically house all of Chelsea's first-team, the extremely bloated squad could not gel, and the out-of-his-depth coach was not able to piece a crooked jigsaw together.
Ending the Potter experiment made sense, but re-appointing Frank Lampard as a caretaker did not. Again, Boehly aggressively swerved to the left when all he needed to do was gently veer to the right. They are currently 11th (eleventh) in the Premier League table with a month left to play.
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Chelsea are now on the hunt for a permanent head coach and are taking their time in their search, but 90min understands a leading contender is Mauricio Pochettino.
The situation at Chelsea isn't ideal for any manager to walk into, but of all the realistic candidates to succeed Potter, Pochettino ticks the most boxes.
There is a charm and charisma about the Argentine that is exactly the sort of galvanising factor to breathe life into that overcrowded dressing room. Potter was intensely criticised for his bland Joe Bloggs demeanour, despite the desperation to push his 'glow up' into the mainstream discourse.
If Chelsea are serious about a long-term project centred around the development of young players and trying to punch up instead of down (a venture they didn't even need to embark on when Boehly took over, but that's an argument for another day), then Pochettino's track record trumps most others. The only club he was not able to focus on this was PSG, where instead the remit was to get the most out of three superstars.
That dynamic doesn't really exist at Chelsea anymore. There are good and borderline world class players at Stamford Bridge, but none that could seriously argue that they should have a team built around them - again a factor which fits Pochettino's cerebral philosophy.
The deepest red flag against Pochettino is his connection to Tottenham. 90min understands that he would be interested in a return to north London, though Spurs have not officially contacted him in regards to their current vacancy.
- The rational case behind a Mauricio Pochettino reunion at Tottenham
Pochettino is an emotional man, heart on his sleeve and all the works. If Tottenham completely overlook him, it will be another damning indictment against the unpopular Daniel Levy and his chief decision-makers. The Argentine will have a chip on his shoulder that will drive him forward, desperate to get one over his former boss.
And besides, Chelsea just love inflicting needless misery to Tottenham. This is a move more in-keeping with the popular old regime.
The resources available to Pochettino at Chelsea would greatly outweigh those he had at Spurs. If he ends up in west London, it'll surely be because he's been assured some sort of say in transfer policy unlike at PSG - walking into another such setup would be unwise.
Pochettino has a wealth of Premier League and Champions League experience, has dealt with up-and-coming stars and ready made ones, and now even has silverware. He is the most suitable candidate to lead a new era at Chelsea.
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On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss a potential midfield merry-go-round this summer, Victor Osimhen's chances of joining Chelsea, Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher's futures, Harry Kane, Ilkay Gundogan, Ousmane Dembele & more!
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