Chelsea, one of the biggest names in English football, has been through a tumultuous period under the stewardship of Mauricio Pochettino and the Boehly era. Chelsea who are renowned for swift managerial changes, have not given any indication that they will sack Pochettino despite the club, languishing in 11th. That said, how long until enough is enough for the fans of the club.
The Billion Pound Gamble
The arrival of Boehly and his consortium marked a new era at Chelsea, with a spending spree taking the club’s expenditure on new players beyond a staggering £1 billion . However, this investment has yet to yield dividends, with Chelsea struggling for consistency on the pitch. The criticism comes from a lack of strategy, with the club spending big on stars, youngsters and squad players.
This has created a club, with a ton of huge prospects such as Palmer and Madueke who play in the same position. This is evident across multiple positions at the club, with high squad depth but players not playing enough to develop. The positive aspect, is that Chelsea have an incredible squad who with the right manager, can develop into a real force in the Premier League.
Mauricio Pochettino’s Performance Conundrum
Despite the considerable investment in the squad, Chelsea’s performances have left much to be desired. A lack of consistency and a failure to deliver in crucial moments have been the hallmarks of their season thus far. The performances at times have also been horrible to watch, with the recent 4-1 loss to Newcastle United, further highlighting Chelsea’s lack of development under Pochettino.
In recent weeks, they have lost to Manchester United 2-1 in a terrible display and then backed it up with a 2-0 loss to Everton in a result that had them languishing in 11th place. They then followed this up with a 2-0 home win against relegation contenders Sheffield United which now has them in 11th place.
Despite a penalty shootout win against Newcastle United, they have yet again suffered another loss, this time 2-1 to Wolverhampton with many Chelsea fans, now turning on Poch, as his tactics and team selection have raised many eyebrows. Chelsea have moved up the table into 10th in recent weeks due to wins over relegation battlers, Crystal Palace and Luton Town.
So, why is this important? Well, because as mentioned, despite the young squad, this team have some of the most expensive players in world football, as well as some of the brightest prospects. This squad alone, has more than enough quality to be in the top 4 right now, yet sit 11th which is becoming far too familar for a club that previously use to fight in all competitions.
The sad reality now, is that the team and fans are willing to accept a great club like Chelsea sitting in 11th because it’s apart of the “process”… Failing to realize, that this process has cost £1B with multiple £100m players in the squad. When you spend like that, you expect results, not significant defeats.
The Alarming Stats For Chelsea
When reviewing Chelsea in comparison to the Premier League average, they absolutely dominate possession, with an average close to 60%. This is how Poch has set his team up to play, what it has done though is created a system that players feel like they need to spark creativity. Often players will force a pass leading to an error such as Enzo Fernandez who is one of the top passers in the league but has 0 assists and 0 goals to show for it.
When then looking further past Chelsea’s dominating possession stats, you can also see they’re above the league average for shots conceded, further validating the point that they play safe football. In terms of the other major metrics, they compare similar to the rest of the league and evidently lack clinical scoring threats.
The style of play also hinders these box to box midfielders, who are continually trying to create due to lack of overlapping and chemistry from this squad. Two concerning players for Chelsea, are Enzo & Caicedo who combined have cost £220 million pounds. Yet they appear average in key metrics for Premier League players.
For £220 million worth of talent, to have 2 goals and 0 assists after 15 games for both is not acceptable after the anticipated hype, these two should hypothetically be Chelsea’s midfield glue for the next 10 years, but if the results go the same way, what stops Boehly from moving selling these two down the line if he prefers to stick with Pochettino.
In particular, Caicedo’s drop since signing from Brighton is rather alarming. Gallagher who has been quite energetic this season is showing both how it’s done which is now creating a storm around Caicedo due to the price tag. It’s clear that both of these players can’t adapt to the Pochettino style despite the obvious talent.
The Chelsea Spurs Comparison
One team who had hit the ground running before injuries is Tottenham, who had an huge 4-1 win against Newcastle United, despite being heavily impacted by injuries and suspension to key players. Despite this, the style of play is evident and exciting to watch which has eased the Spurs fans who had doubts about Ange Postecoglou.
The question that needs to be asked, is that if Ange Postecoglou can have his side adopt a style so quickly with lesser players, why can’t Pochettino?… because let’s be real here, Chelsea have a better squad and more world class talent than Tottenham.
When comparing core stats, you can see that Tottenham also dominate possession however create for more chances and shots at goal for a better goals output. They also conceded less goals than Chelsea despite facing more shots, partially due to some incredible saves but also due to facing lesser shots that aren’t on target.
Chelsea also rank mid table for shots taken and 7th for total conversion in the league, further showcasing the lack of ability in attacking transition. The stats also indicate that Chelsea rank around 4th or 5th in key stats such as passing completion and possession but then drop to around mid table for crossing and shots on target.
A Question of Patience & Leadership
Pochettino’s tenure at Chelsea has been fraught with challenges. Yet, he remains confident that he can turn things around. However, the question remains: How much longer will the Chelsea hierarchy and more importantly the fans be willing to wait for an upturn in fortunes?
To further compile misery for Chelsea, Pochettino said after the Newcastle game that the players will need to come into training on Sunday to correct there errors and work harder, however this was false as multiple reports of Chelsea players in different countries appeared. This showed that the leadership was fake outrage and he did not address the issues with his squad.
He has faced previous questions around his leadership in the past, one situation being he dropped hattrick scorer Lucas Moura for the Champions League final for Harry Kane as he did not want to upset the star. Kane was injured and had no match fitness which was evident in his terrible final performance in which Tottenham lost 1-0.
The Road Ahead
The road ahead for Chelsea and Pochettino is fraught with challenges. After a horrible 2-1 loss to Manchester United, where they showed zero fight and again looked without a plan, Pochettino is now under pressure as despite this being a young squad, they are not developing and cannot waste a full season of development for a what if…
Chelsea also have urgency around the final situation, as no European football would be yet another huge blow for the club, as the FFP structure and signings strategy is heavily dependant on success within a few years.
The Final Verdict
The Pochettino saga at Chelsea raises fundamental questions about the club’s management approach. While the Argentine manager has been given a tough job, the clubs spending an incredible squad value demands higher standards than what they are getting. The emergence of teams such as Newcastle and even Spurs to some extent, means Chelsea face the real possibility of falling further behind the Top 5.
In conclusion, Pochettino’s future at Chelsea hangs in the balance. The coming weeks will undoubtedly be crucial in determining the course of his Stamford Bridge tenure. Only time will tell whether Pochettino can weather the storm and steer Chelsea back to their winning ways with this incredibly talented young squad, or fail to realise yet another big job opportunity.
