Tyler Stearns |
Chelsea fired Mauricio Pochettino yesterday. This came after many rumors about his exit following a mediocre season. In the eyes of many, the year may have been a disappointment for the London giants, but taking the team from last year's 12th to this year's 6th and finding Europe is a win.
This is not a new development for the club. Under Todd Boehly, their owner for the past few seasons, they have already seen managers like Frank Lampard and Graham Potter ousted. Boehly has not given them time either. Both Potter and Lampard did not have full seasons. Pochettino did, but there were always rumors he would be sacked early in the year. They were not playing well and were losing games they should have gotten points out of.
Chelsea failed to recognize the full revival of their club after January. Pochettino managed the Blues to a mid-table team until they moved up to Europe later in the year. Not only is it an incredible feat, but also something that coaches have never been fired for. Chelsea had finished 12th the year prior with much better talent. This season, they started many U23 talents and went through multiple different goalkeepers. Pochettino developed Cole Palmer, a relatively unknown talent from Manchester City into one of the best players in the Premier League. He also revolutionized the defense, turning Axel Disasi and Benoit Badiashille into much-improved players. The team was finally starting to click.
A misconception of this sacking and the others under Boehly is the unprecedented nature of the consistent firing of managers who haven't done wonders in year one. However, Roman Abramovich had the same philosophy, only he hired managers proven to win like Conte, Mourinho, and Rafa Benitez. All three had succeeded in major leagues. Boehly hired Pochettino who had failed to win a trophy with a talented Tottenham side and lost the league at PSG which is arguably the hardest feat a manager can achieve in the French League. Boehly needs to make a smart decision with a proven manager. There are coaches on the market like Thomas Tuchel and Hansi Flick who will be perfect for the club. Managing Chelsea is not a hard task. You are automatically given an insanely large transfer budget to sign whoever you would like. Chelsea are known to splurge on up-and-coming talents, most notably with Enzo Fernandez and Mikhailo Mudryk. What they need to start doing is signing proven players, similar to how they should attack their manager strategy. Victor Osimhen and Frenkie De Jong are two players linked to the club and trying to sign them would be in their best interest. Both are amazing players at their respective positions who could revolutionize Chelsea.
The team needs to stick with a manager. They can't keep switching. If it is Tuchel, great! If it is someone like Ruben Amorin, awesome! But stay with him. It is in their best interest to sign someone with experience if their history of success is any sign of that. Signing proven players with experience who will fit the new manager system will be good for them too. But Boehly and Chelsea can not keep changing their mind and their struggles in recent history are a result of the poor decision-making.
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