EXPLAINED | Why Mauricio Pochettino is the perfect fit to become next Chelsea manager

Chelsea Football Club’s hunt for a new manager is all set to end as Argentine Mauricio Pochettino appears closer than ever to being appointed as the new man at the helm at Stamford Bridge. A year of managerial turmoil that has seen the West London outfit change manager on three occasions are finally ready to announce the former Tottenham man as their new gaffer. But why is he the perfect fit to be the next man in charge as Todd Boehly faces another key decision in his short tenure as the owner of the club?

Why Pochettino?

Over the 24 months, Chelsea have gone from European Champions to the middle-table Premier League strugglers, having seen a change of ownership and key players leave through the front doors. While the club has hadfour different men in charge in the last eight months, Pochettino’s arrival could stabilise the club with his philosophy on and off the field. While Graham Potter and Frank Lampard failed to get the best out of the young players, Pochettino’s arrival at the West London club could see a change of fortunes.

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Premier League experience

The 51-year-old has tons of experience in the PL, having first arrived in 2013 from Espanyol as he steered Southampton to safety. Since then he has not put a foot wrong. He led the Saints to an eighth place finish in 2014, which saw him earn a big-money move to Tottenham Hotspur, where again he worked wonders.

In little over five years in charge at the North London club, theformer Argentinian star led Spurs to a Champions League final and League Cup final while leading the club to a second place finish, their best result since 1963. He also led Spurs to two FA Cup semi finals that saw him earn a legend’s tag during his North London stay.

London connection

While things are not different in other part of London as Tottenham too are going through turmoil of managerial calamity, Pochettino will be pleased to return to London. Having spent more than five years in London, he won’t have too many adjustments to make as his family is settled in the English capital. His son also was part of the Tottenham academy, thus making it easy for Pochettino to get settled into the surroundings.

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Attacking brand of football

Pochettino’s brand of football at his previous job was one of the features as he led Paris Saint-Germain to the Champions League semi finals in 2021. He had the privilege of playing Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi in the same Playing XI during his second season and did the routine job of winning the French Ligue 1 in 2022, but faced the axe due to a poor 30 minutes in Madrid in Champions League.

In 2016-17, Spurs registered their best-ever finish in the PL era that saw them finish second while also registering the best attack and defence in the division. The attacking play saw Spurs score 86 goals while conceding only 26 and were better than champions Chelsea. Harry Kane flourished during his tenure at Spurs and went on to win the Premier League Golden Boot in 2016 and 2017.

Ability to work with young players

Chelsea’s appointment of Pochettino also makes sense as they have a wealth of young players among their ranks who are yet to prove themselves at the PL level. The likes of Enzo Fernández and Mykhailo Mudryk could flourish as the Argentine has the ability to work with young players.

At Spurs, Dele Alli was a prime example of what led him to become a star that saw him flourish at both club and international level during Pochettino's time. Eric Dier was also handed his debut by Pochettino and remains one of the best Tottenham players in recent times.

At Southampton, Pochettino holds a good track record of developing young talents like Luke Shaw and James Ward-Prowse who took PL by storm.

Proven track record with struggling clubs

While leading the club to glorious heights remains a long-term project for the former Tottenham man, his short-term project will be to stabilise the club. Currently, the Blues are much closer to the drop zone than the top four and will need some instant fixes to get back on track. At Espanyol in Spain, he led the club away from relegation struggles, while he did the same with the struggling Southampton side in 2013.

Notably, Pochettino will be remembered for his work at Chelsea’s London rivals Tottenham, where he took the club to new heights. Spurs struggled before Pochettino’s arrival and were unable to finish in the top four despite having a good squad. The Argentine worked wonders and took the club to four consecutive top four finishes while reaching the Champions League final in 2019. He also saw Spurs’ transition from the old stadium to the new stadium while keeping an attacking brand of football intact.

The decision now rests with the owners of the club as the announcement for Pochettino’s arrival as Chelsea could be made before the end of the season, while Frank Lampard remains far from being approached due to a disastrous final couple of months.

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