As the problem at Chelsea continues to worsen, Mauricio Pochettino has appealed with the club’s management to give him more time to find a solution. However, how patient are the owners going to be?
After just one victory in their first six matches, the Blues find themselves in 14th place in the Premier League standings, barely four points above the zone that denotes teams who are in danger of being relegated. just two years ago, the Blues were crowned champions of Europe.
Their most recent loss came on Sunday, when they were defeated by Aston Villa by a score of 1-0. The game-winning goal was scored by Ollie Watkins after the Chelsea defender Malo Gusto was sent off.
In the history of the Premier League, Chelsea finished with the fewest points possible in the previous season, but they have gotten off to an even worse start in this season’s competition.
After the game on Sunday, Mauricio Pochettino begged with the club’s American owners to support him by telling them, “Give me time.”
“They are disappointed, as they arrived at the club and were so excited to build a project,” said the owners.
“Of course they are going to feel disappointed, but at the same time, they need to support the plan.”
In May, it was announced that Mauricio Pochettino will replace Antonio Conte as the manager of Chelsea Football Club. Pochettino would become the club’s third permanent manager since a group led by Todd Boehly purchased the club from Roman Abramovich in 2022.
The English club Chelsea praised the Argentine for his “winning coach” reputation and noted his experience at “the highest levels.”
Boehly showed his support for his manager by funding yet another massive buying binge during the summer transfer window. This brought Chelsea’s total expenditure on new players in a little more than a year to more than £1 billion ($1.2 billion).
However, the return that they have gotten on their investment has been terrible at a time when there has been a lot of turmoil both on and off the field.
The goal-averse Chelsea
In their first six league matches, Chelsea have only managed to score five goals, three of which came in their victory against Luton, a team that was recently promoted to the Premier League.
They have gone without scoring in 13 Premier League matches in 2023, which is more than any other team in the competition.
The disappointed Pochettino lamented his team’s bad luck after their loss to Villa and said that the only thing that was lacking from their performance was goals.
“We need to be aware about what’s going on, but in some way we need to be calm because the team is creating, the team is alive, and the team is fighting every single action,” he added. “We need to be aware about what’s going on.”
As a possible reason for Chelsea’s lackluster offense, Pochettino might refer to the club’s extensive injury list as an example.
Christopher Nkunku, a striker for France, was sidelined for the season after suffering a catastrophic knee injury in a preseason friendly. However, other players, such as Mykhailo Mudryk, Nicolas Jackson, Raheem Sterling, and Cole Palmer, have failed to produce.
The hire-and-fire attitude that was prevalent during the Abramovich era is alive and well under Boehly’s leadership. The former manager of Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain will be all too aware of the impatience that characterizes Chelsea as a club.
Thomas Tuchel was let go by Chelsea in the early stages of the previous season, and Graham Potter experienced the same fate in April, being fired after less than seven months in command of the club and with the team sitting in 11th place in the standings.
After earning a better reputation during his time as head coach at Tottenham for five years, Mauricio Pochettino went on to lead Paris Saint-Germain to the Ligue 1 championship under his leadership.
However, he was not successful in leading PSG to their major objective of winning the Champions League. As a result, his management CV is still missing a significant amount of silverware in comparison to that of some of his peers in the Premier League.
Next up for Chelsea is a match in the third round of the League Cup against in-form Brighton, who will make the trip to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
After that, they will compete in the Premier League against their neighborhood rivals Fulham. After that, they will play matches against Arsenal, Tottenham, and the reigning champions Manchester City.
At the weekend, the Villa supporters took pleasure in the agony that the Chelsea manager was experiencing and chanted that he would be “fired in the morning.”
Even if there are no indications that the club’s leadership is getting ready to pull the trigger just yet, they may feel obligated to take action in the near future if there is not a significant improvement in the situation.