Chelsea is gearing up to confront Brighton & Hove Albion in the third round of the Carabao Cup tomorrow night, and it’s already a critical match for Mauricio Pochettino.
Pochettino, the Argentine coach, took the helm at Chelsea this summer and has witnessed a disastrous beginning to his tenure, managing to win just one out of his first six Premier League matches.
The most recent defeat was a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge, leaving the club languishing in 14th place on the table, a considerable 13 points adrift of the league leaders, Manchester City.
Many within the club had hoped that the poor form of the previous year, which included their lowest top-flight finish in nearly three decades and only 11 league victories, would be eradicated with Pochettino’s appointment.
Similar to last summer, the club’s leadership invested heavily in the playing squad, acquiring 12 additional players for over £400 million, bringing owner Todd Boehly’s total spending to over £1 billion since taking control of the club in May 2022.
However, on-field results have yet to show improvement, and familiar issues persistently resurface.
While the current squad boasts ample talent and potential, it lacks a core of experienced, high-level professionals and, more importantly, a proven goal scorer.
Thus far this season, Pochettino’s team has managed just five goals, with three of them coming in a single game, placing them among the lowest-scoring teams, ahead of only Burnley and Luton.
Out of the first-team squad, only six players have been with the club for more than two years, and three of them emerged from the youth team setup in 2020 (Ian Maatsen, Conor Gallagher, and Armando Broja).
This situation leaves Pochettino with a disconnected group of high-paid strangers who seem uncomfortable playing together, lacking the unity and cohesion found in many successful clubs.
It’s challenging to lay the blame squarely on Chelsea’s current manager. His track record of building strong footballing teams centered around young players is well-documented.
The former Tottenham boss has emphasized that his work is part of a ‘long-term’ project. Given the club’s chaotic approach to transfers, it’s clear that there’s no quick-fix solution.
This raises the question of whether Chelsea made any progress by dismissing Graham Potter last season.
When Potter assumed the Stamford Bridge hot seat in September 2022, he was promised a similar proposition to Pochettino’s – building a team in his own image, using the players he deemed necessary, and doing so over multiple seasons.
During his tumultuous eight-month tenure, Potter encountered similar issues to those faced by Pochettino, including a lack of goals and team cohesion.
However, instead of learning from their transfer market missteps when appointing Potter’s successor, it appears that the board is persisting with their approach, and as expected, they are paying the price both on the pitch and in their financial books.
On Wednesday, Chelsea faces a club they seem eager to emulate, in a game that is already a must-win for the Blues.
Brighton’s intricate and captivating football is flourishing under the management of Roberto De Zerbi, backed by the solid foundation laid out over many years by Tony Bloom, Paul Barber, and David Weir.
While Pochettino may possess vision and ideas, the support structure seems lacking. No matter how many multi-million-pound players Boehly’s ownership brings in, Chelsea will continue to struggle in the lower half of the Premier League table until the football operation runs smoothly.”