Mauricio Pochettino Announced As New Chelsea Manager
Chelsea officially announced the signing of Mauricio Pochettino as their new manager on Monday.
The former Tottenham and PSG manager has been given a two-year contract by Chelsea and will begin his rule on July 1st. Chelsea has the option of extending his contract an extra year if he performs well.
This announcement comes following an absolutely terrible year for Chelsea after the usual top-four-contending Blues finished in 12th place, capping off their worst season in 29 years.
Chelsea finished the season with only 44 points. That’s 17 points behind Aston Villa who qualified for the UEFA Conference League and a whopping 27 points behind Manchester United who was the last team to qualify for next season’s Champions League. This will be the first season since the 2016-2017 season that Chelsea has not competed in European competition.
The club’s decision to hire Pochettino has been made with the aim of righting the Chelsea ship. This season, the Blues have had three managers: Thomas Tuchel started the season as manager but was fired in September followed by Graham Potter, who was also fired before the end of the season.
The club then announced Frank Lampard as the caretaker manager until the end of the season. Lampard’s short tenure turned out to be a total dumpster fire, with the club legend only winning one out of his 11 games in charge.
While Lampard was in charge, Chelsea’s co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stuart led an extensive head coaching search. While other names such as Julian Nagelsmann were linked, the two identified Pochettino as their primary target early in the search.
“[Mauricio Pochettino] is a winning coach, who has worked at the highest levels, in multiple leagues and languages,” said Winstanley and Stuart. “His ethos, tactical approach and commitment to development all made him the exceptional candidate.”
Via ESPN
Pochettino’s hiring should be exciting to Chelsea fans. After a season of incredible lows, it was important to hire a manager who has proven he can succeed at the highest level.
Pochettino checks this box. While at Tottenham, he earned four successive top-four finishes in the Premier League and guided the club to the 2019 Champions League final. He also won a Ligue 1 title, a French Cup and a French Super Cup while at PSG.
Is Pochettino the right man to turn things around for the Blues? Only time will tell, but he is one of the best managers out there. Granted, Tuchel and Potter weren’t able to succeed at Chelsea and they are both also fantastic managers.
Chelsea has also proven to be impatient ever since American Todd Boehly has become involved with the club. Pochettino will likely have to hit the ground running if he wants to avoid the sack. He’s a great manager, but will Chelsea prove to be too poisonous for Poch to succeed?
Best of luck, Mauricio Pochettino.
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