Mauricio Pochettino leaves Chelsea by mutual consent

[xceleryx]

9 minutes ago, JaneB said:

Any chance of Mo Po putting in an appearance at Cobham today?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuOrzl6sCRk/?igshid=YmM0MjE2YWMzOA==

[JaneB]

And just as I said it!!!

Thanks @xceleryx

[Bob Singleton]

33 minutes ago, JaneB said:

Any chance of Mo Po putting in an appearance at Cobham today?

https://absolutechelsea.com/first-pictures-of-mauricio-pochettino-arriving-at-chelseas-training-ground/5232/

[Bob Singleton]

In club colours...

[JaneB]

Pochettino interview part one: 'We can create a fantastic journey' | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

So full of cliches and saying absolutely nothing 😞 

[Sciatika]

“In the last 10, 12, 15 years, Chelsea is the greatest team in England” - Poch might be overegging that one a bit but it's always good to wind up Spurs.

[Gurj SS]

35 minutes ago, JaneB said:

Pochettino interview part one: 'We can create a fantastic journey' | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

So full of cliches and saying absolutely nothing 😞 

Yeah, a bit of a flat interview. I think it might be because I haven't liked the way he has handled things so far in regards to players leaving before his official arrival; as a new manager at least have a pair to sit down with the seniors and work out who can and cannot work towards the same goals he has laid out. Guy arrives and talks about the history and culture while supporting the owners in getting rid of it before he arrives, maybe I'm overreacting but I expect managers to be able to come in and work with players who have been there much longer than himself or the current owners have, so all this history and culture talk is selling us fans a whole load of rubbish.

It would have been better to be honest and tell everyone that the past doesn't matter anymore, in general I know it's normal to have a disconnect with the club because I felt it when RA first took over and things were changing so fast; but this time it feels totally different, there's literally nothing left from even 3 years ago; I mean apart from the homegrown players, and Baba Rahman (yep, still around), I think Kepa is our longest serving player; and only because we had no one willing to buy him over the last 3 years. Also the key thing being that when RA took over we needed to overhaul the squad and bring in much better quality, this time around the players leaving could be trusted more than the ones staying or coming in; we haven't gone and got world beaters, we have got some maybe it'll work out players.

As normal, I hope things work out, but I think this is one of those times where I'll have to hope to be proven wrong and it all falls into place; but I don't think anyone will convince me that getting rid of so many long serving or core players in the squad hasn't ripped out the roots of what has come before the new owners, and to replace them with so many 50/50 players it has truly put us on the knife edge. It's fine starting the season with a few new players and 2 or 3 inexperienced players who may or may not work, but this could really be a disaster; all in the name of a manager who can't handle pressure and strong personalities. Came 3rd in a 2 horse race for the league, honestly I hope I'm really really really wrong.

[ROTG]

1 hour ago, JaneB said:

Pochettino interview part one: 'We can create a fantastic journey' | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

So full of cliches and saying absolutely nothing 😞 

He mention the word project a few times😳

[Chelsea_Matt]

1 hour ago, JaneB said:

Pochettino interview part one: 'We can create a fantastic journey' | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

So full of cliches and saying absolutely nothing 😞 

Cliches are cliches because there’s truth to them and I think a lot of what he said *was* true. Personally I felt he did a good job of managing expectations and showing realistic ambition without the usual BS. 

[Bob Singleton]

I thought it was an OK interview.

Not sure what people were expecting. ALL managers mention "projects" these days. ALL new signings (be they coaches or players) are always joining the best club in the world, with the best supporters, deserving of the success they hope, even expect, to bring.

Let's wait until we see how the team do in the pre-season games before even starting to judge. What he says to the players in private and on the training pitch is far more important than any words he has for us and the world in general.

[thevelourfog]

1 hour ago, JaneB said:

Pochettino interview part one: 'We can create a fantastic journey' | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

So full of cliches and saying absolutely nothing 😞 

It is a fairly dull watch, especially when (like we have!) you watch so many of these! But this is because the football world demands only the most sanitised content, especially from a new coach or player. It's very rare any manager says what they're thinking or anything of interest to any press.

Just seen the "message to the fans" bit and it is tad more interesting. Reassured after Potter to hear words like "tough" and "animal" being used to describe who he wants us to be. Might just be words, but I'm pretty confident it'll be followed up with action on the training pitch.

Edited July 3, 2023 by thevelourfog

[BMox81]

I enjoyed it myself. Really don’t know what else he could say in his first interview let’s be honest..

Certainly feel more confident with his appointment than I ever did with Potter.

I hope he drills those players into the ground this pre-season.

[Ham]

22 minutes ago, BMox81 said:

I enjoyed it myself. Really don’t know what else he could say in his first interview let’s be honest..

 

Should have mentioned something about the trophy cabinet 😏

[JaneB]

Pochettino interview part two: His promise to Chelsea fans and Stamford Bridge excitement | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

I guess it was never going to be that revealing.....and it wasn't.

Let's get going with the season.

[Rob B]

3 hours ago, Gurj SS said:

Yeah, a bit of a flat interview. I think it might be because I haven't liked the way he has handled things so far in regards to players leaving before his official arrival; as a new manager at least have a pair to sit down with the seniors and work out who can and cannot work towards the same goals he has laid out. Guy arrives and talks about the history and culture while supporting the owners in getting rid of it before he arrives, maybe I'm overreacting but I expect managers to be able to come in and work with players who have been there much longer than himself or the current owners have, so all this history and culture talk is selling us fans a whole load of rubbish.

It would have been better to be honest and tell everyone that the past doesn't matter anymore, in general I know it's normal to have a disconnect with the club because I felt it when RA first took over and things were changing so fast; but this time it feels totally different, there's literally nothing left from even 3 years ago; I mean apart from the homegrown players, and Baba Rahman (yep, still around), I think Kepa is our longest serving player; and only because we had no one willing to buy him over the last 3 years. Also the key thing being that when RA took over we needed to overhaul the squad and bring in much better quality, this time around the players leaving could be trusted more than the ones staying or coming in; we haven't gone and got world beaters, we have got some maybe it'll work out players.

As normal, I hope things work out, but I think this is one of those times where I'll have to hope to be proven wrong and it all falls into place; but I don't think anyone will convince me that getting rid of so many long serving or core players in the squad hasn't ripped out the roots of what has come before the new owners, and to replace them with so many 50/50 players it has truly put us on the knife edge. It's fine starting the season with a few new players and 2 or 3 inexperienced players who may or may not work, but this could really be a disaster; all in the name of a manager who can't handle pressure and strong personalities. Came 3rd in a 2 horse race for the league, honestly I hope I'm really really really wrong.

The interview was bland tbh, but almost all of them are nowadays - Pep is the same, as is Carlo, Ten Hag, Arteta, Potter, even Frank became very mundane to listen to.  

The only ones that aren’t are Mourinho, Tuchel, Klopp and maybe a couple of others eg Simeone, that actually allow their personality to shine through.  I don’t like Klopp, but I loved listening to Tuchel, very charismatic and personable. 

The reason I wanted to reply though, is to disagree with your view about selling the players early.  There’s absolutely no way Poch could have taken 40-45* players to the States whilst trying to work out who to keep and who to sell.   Club would have been slaughtered for leaving it too late, taking too many on tour which means sharing the playing time around, not getting new signings through the door quickly because we’re waiting for transfers out etc!!!  Real vicious circle.   * There are currently  still 35 first-teamers listed on TOCWS and this is before Maatsen, Santos and Casadei!!   So even after selling 7-8 players there is still a lot of work to be done (We know that Azpi, Mount, Lukaku and Aubameyang are all but gone) 

If there’s one thing I’d praise the club on recently its being really decisive early on.   The quicker we can drastically cut the squad, get 2-3 new bodies in and adapting to Poch’s methods, the better chance we have of hitting the ground running.   Besides, Poch and his team have spent the last two months watching every game, analysing data, talking to the likes of Reece, Frank, the Sporting Directors etc, they’ll already know more about every player in the squad than we ever will! 

Edited July 3, 2023 by Rob B

[Gurj SS]

1 hour ago, Rob B said:

The interview was bland tbh, but almost all of them are nowadays - Pep is the same, as is Carlo, Ten Hag, Arteta, Potter, even Frank became very mundane to listen to.  

The only ones that aren’t are Mourinho, Tuchel, Klopp and maybe a couple of others eg Simeone, that actually allow their personality to shine through.  I don’t like Klopp, but I loved listening to Tuchel, very charismatic and personable. 

The reason I wanted to reply though, is to disagree with your view about selling the players early.  There’s absolutely no way Poch could have taken 40-45* players to the States whilst trying to work out who to keep and who to sell.   Club would have been slaughtered for leaving it too late, taking too many on tour which means sharing the playing time around, not getting new signings through the door quickly because we’re waiting for transfers out etc!!!  Real vicious circle.   * There are currently  still 35 first-teamers listed on TOCWS and this is before Maatsen, Santos and Casadei!!   So even after selling 7-8 players there is still a lot of work to be done (We know that Azpi, Mount, Lukaku and Aubameyang are all but gone) 

If there’s one thing I’d praise the club on recently its being really decisive early on.   The quicker we can drastically cut the squad, get 2-3 new bodies in and adapting to Poch’s methods, the better chance we have of hitting the ground running.   Besides, Poch and his team have spent the last two months watching every game, analysing data, talking to the likes of Reece, Frank, the Sporting Directors etc, they’ll already know more about every player in the squad than we ever will! 

It's not so much the amount of players sold, it's who was sold. Our squad hasn't been bloated with genuine usable players, it's quite the opposite; it's hasn't had enough, a couple of injuries and the squad has look thin and weak.

Getting rid of Kova, Kante, Mount & Havertz has done nothing for the team other than weaken us, and massively, all are proven players who when given the right structure around them have always performed; the times they haven't performed it's been because the whole team has been going through turmoil; when we've had some balance they always turned up.

A simple model was needed:

GK: 1st choice keeper, Kepa/Mendy, 3rd choice keepr. (Mendy is better than Kepa, but I don't think anyone would have bought Kepa)

CB: 2 senior centrebacks (Silva, KK), 2 young  (Fofana(still a mistake so far for that money), Badishile) (The fact that KK couldn't settle in the team goes to show it wasn't all the CBs fault last season in defence, the tactics were horrendous, until we know more about Fofana and Badishile it would have been wise to keep a partner for to support Silva).

RB: Reese, Gusto (Pretty much set up since January)

LB: Chilwell, Hall/Maatsen (Cucurella is bloating left back)

CM: Kante and Kova as two seniors, Enzo, Casedei, Santos  (This is where we've already managed the situation badly, very badly, let's say Caicedo comes in for big money, then what was the point of Casedei and Santos, they simply won't get a look in. With an anging Kante to support them and Kova's quality and experience, we'd have been able to give them the support required by senior pros being around them. Caicedo has nothing to offer young players because he's one himself, and everyone seems to look good at Brighton, just look at Cucurella; even Enzo still has question marks as his positional play was very questionable and at times his tracking back made Jorginho look like Roy Keane; he'd do it if he could be bothered).

AM/LW/RW: Mount, Havertz, Mudryk, Madueke, Nkunku, Pulisic/new player (Having signed 2 young players and adding a 3rd in Nkunku to an already youngish attack would have provided the competition to see who can win a place and keep it, healthy competition and the losers can be sold next summer if they can't keep up. At the moment we have no choice really but to go with Mudryk, Nkunku and Madueke, if they fail we'll be without any PL experienced players; especially now it looks like Pulisic is on his way out too. I'll also stick by my words, if Mudryk and Madueke had been fresh 18 year olds last seaonn I'd have said they have some potential, but at their age they were abysmal).

CF: New striker, Jackson, Broja/new player (We've needed a new striker for a few years, Havertz did a brilliant job leading the line even though he was signed to play off a striker rather than be the striker; the guy actually did brilliantly in a team that was short on creativity because of having to play an extra defender or we'd concede at the opposition's will; a mixture of lack of quality and very poor tactics by GP & FL).

Utility - DF: Colwill, MF: Chalobah, AM: RLC. (Got to have them, academy players who won't ever be right at the top are always more useful as squad fillers, it's how money is saved and better spent on elite quality. I'll add that Colwill looks good, but it's a whole different ball game playing for us than it is for Brighton, again, just ask Cucurella.

Club Captain: Dave (I'd rather have him around for the dressing room if anything, squad dynamics, explaining the Chelsea way, to lead by example and show the young lads what it means to wear the shirt.

The ideal thing to do was sign players who could actually force their way into a team, at the moment all we've done is remove as many players out the way to see TB's signings on the pitch more, with zero real competition for them to beat. We're bascially trying to be Brighton and there's a real arugment to be put forward that we may no longer have the quality to even go toe to toe with them. A much slower transition was needed, the squad was only ever bloated by unusable players, but the likes of Kante, Kova, Mount & Havertz were never the issues we had with a bloated squad; it was the ones who simply didn't have the quality to make competing for positions a thing; and we've got far less competition in the squad now than we've possibly ever had in the last 15 odd years.

[Bob Singleton]

@Gurj SS  I'm not going to go through your whole post as it would take far too long and it's gone midnight where I am, but I disagree with pretty much all of it.

Just one example: Kante and Kovacic. You are aware aren't you that Kante's contract was up on 30th June and Kovacic's next June?  So you would have given a new contract to a player who has spent much of last season on the treatment table, much of the previous season on the treatment table,  and whose fitness levels are now questionable?  As for Kovacic, it was clear he didn't want to extend his contract, so keeping him for his final year would have seen him leave on a free.

I, for one, am glad you're not running the club.

[RDCW]

1 hour ago, Gurj SS said:

It's not so much the amount of players sold, it's who was sold. Our squad hasn't been bloated with genuine usable players, it's quite the opposite; it's hasn't had enough, a couple of injuries and the squad has look thin and weak.

Getting rid of Kova, Kante, Mount & Havertz has done nothing for the team other than weaken us, and massively, all are proven players who when given the right structure around them have always performed; the times they haven't performed it's been because the whole team has been going through turmoil; when we've had some balance they always turned up.

A simple model was needed:

GK: 1st choice keeper, Kepa/Mendy, 3rd choice keepr. (Mendy is better than Kepa, but I don't think anyone would have bought Kepa)

CB: 2 senior centrebacks (Silva, KK), 2 young  (Fofana(still a mistake so far for that money), Badishile) (The fact that KK couldn't settle in the team goes to show it wasn't all the CBs fault last season in defence, the tactics were horrendous, until we know more about Fofana and Badishile it would have been wise to keep a partner for to support Silva).

RB: Reese, Gusto (Pretty much set up since January)

LB: Chilwell, Hall/Maatsen (Cucurella is bloating left back)

CM: Kante and Kova as two seniors, Enzo, Casedei, Santos  (This is where we've already managed the situation badly, very badly, let's say Caicedo comes in for big money, then what was the point of Casedei and Santos, they simply won't get a look in. With an anging Kante to support them and Kova's quality and experience, we'd have been able to give them the support required by senior pros being around them. Caicedo has nothing to offer young players because he's one himself, and everyone seems to look good at Brighton, just look at Cucurella; even Enzo still has question marks as his positional play was very questionable and at times his tracking back made Jorginho look like Roy Keane; he'd do it if he could be bothered).

AM/LW/RW: Mount, Havertz, Mudryk, Madueke, Nkunku, Pulisic/new player (Having signed 2 young players and adding a 3rd in Nkunku to an already youngish attack would have provided the competition to see who can win a place and keep it, healthy competition and the losers can be sold next summer if they can't keep up. At the moment we have no choice really but to go with Mudryk, Nkunku and Madueke, if they fail we'll be without any PL experienced players; especially now it looks like Pulisic is on his way out too. I'll also stick by my words, if Mudryk and Madueke had been fresh 18 year olds last seaonn I'd have said they have some potential, but at their age they were abysmal).

CF: New striker, Jackson, Broja/new player (We've needed a new striker for a few years, Havertz did a brilliant job leading the line even though he was signed to play off a striker rather than be the striker; the guy actually did brilliantly in a team that was short on creativity because of having to play an extra defender or we'd concede at the opposition's will; a mixture of lack of quality and very poor tactics by GP & FL).

Utility - DF: Colwill, MF: Chalobah, AM: RLC. (Got to have them, academy players who won't ever be right at the top are always more useful as squad fillers, it's how money is saved and better spent on elite quality. I'll add that Colwill looks good, but it's a whole different ball game playing for us than it is for Brighton, again, just ask Cucurella.

Club Captain: Dave (I'd rather have him around for the dressing room if anything, squad dynamics, explaining the Chelsea way, to lead by example and show the young lads what it means to wear the shirt.

The ideal thing to do was sign players who could actually force their way into a team, at the moment all we've done is remove as many players out the way to see TB's signings on the pitch more, with zero real competition for them to beat. We're bascially trying to be Brighton and there's a real arugment to be put forward that we may no longer have the quality to even go toe to toe with them. A much slower transition was needed, the squad was only ever bloated by unusable players, but the likes of Kante, Kova, Mount & Havertz were never the issues we had with a bloated squad; it was the ones who simply didn't have the quality to make competing for positions a thing; and we've got far less competition in the squad now than we've possibly ever had in the last 15 odd years.

I disagree with pretty much every element of this diatribe! Right from "Mendy is better than Kepa" through wanting to keep Kante and Kovacic, which was never on the cards even if they had been good enough over the season, to the ludicrous assertion that "Havertz did a brilliant job leading the line".

None of the players we have sold will be lamented, with the possible exception of Mason Mount, who it seems was determined to leave Chelsea anyway.

I say let's look at how the season starts. We will know straight away whether there is an effective plan. I suspect there will be.

 

[kev61]

4 hours ago, JaneB said:

Pochettino interview part two: His promise to Chelsea fans and Stamford Bridge excitement | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

I guess it was never going to be that revealing.....and it wasn't.

Let's get going with the season.

I would have been more worried if he attempted a Gettysburg Address type speech.

Potter  made a lot of sense in his early utterings,but turned out to be forrest gump.

[xceleryx]

1 hour ago, RDCW said:

I disagree with pretty much every element of this diatribe! Right from "Mendy is better than Kepa" through wanting to keep Kante and Kovacic, which was never on the cards even if they had been good enough over the season, to the ludicrous assertion that "Havertz did a brilliant job leading the line".

None of the players we have sold will be lamented, with the possible exception of Mason Mount, who it seems was determined to leave Chelsea anyway.

I say let's look at how the season starts. We will know straight away whether there is an effective plan. I suspect there will be.

Absolutely agree. Those we've largely sold have either been unreliable be it through form or fitness for several seasons now, weren't interested in being here, weren't practical to hang onto, and or not really the sort the manner in which Poch has historically gone about  his football. 

Change had to happen and getting it done swiftly will only aid us in having a properly prepared pre-season for once.

[asvaberg]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66092729

Optimism is fine, but one also needs realism.......

Last 15 years:

Premier league: Chelsea 3 (MC 7)

FA cup: Chelsea 4 (Arse 4)

League cup: Chelsea 1 (MC 6)

Champions league: Chelsea 2 (best  of British clubs!)

Europe League: Chelsea 2 (best of British clubs!)

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by asvaberg

[paulw66]

17 hours ago, JaneB said:

Pochettino interview part one: 'We can create a fantastic journey' | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

So full of cliches and saying absolutely nothing 😞 

 

13 hours ago, JaneB said:

Pochettino interview part two: His promise to Chelsea fans and Stamford Bridge excitement | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

I guess it was never going to be that revealing.....and it wasn't.

Let's get going with the season.

The trouble is Jane, no manager or player has the freedom to say anything remotely interesting as it will offend someone.

Keep it neutral, vanilla, beige, and don't land yourself or the club in trouble. This is 2023.

[Bones]

Apparently Poch HAS said something interesting that seems to have offended everyone 😄

Chelsea has been the best team in England over the past 10-15 years, you could equally argue City were better, but it's totally a valid claim to elect Chelsea as the best.

This however seems to have properly winded up all the oppo fans and the media are loving it writing these provocative headlines.

[blueboy1905]

Looking forward to club footage of players projectile vomiting after completing the 55th shuttle run. If there is one thing I'm sure Poch is going to do is work these players to maximum fitness rather than the walkabout effort last season.

[thevelourfog]

35 minutes ago, Bones said:

Apparently Poch HAS said something interesting that seems to have offended everyone 😄

Chelsea has been the best team in England over the past 10-15 years, you could equally argue City were better, but it's totally a valid claim to elect Chelsea as the best.

This however seems to have properly winded up all the oppo fans and the media are loving it writing these provocative headlines.

Anyone who actually watched the interview will see it's a bloke who has English as a second language answering leading questions in a slightly broken up way ... For an audience who specifically want to hear positive things about Chelsea. I might roll my eyes at, idk, new Liverpool signings talking about them being the greatest club of all time but I get why they're doing it and wouldn't invest any energy into being upset by it. Some people have nothing better to do.

Depending on how you weight CL and PL titles, we're one of the two most successful clubs in the time Pochettino mentions so it isn't even controversial in factual terms. Personally think we're not first, not even close, but pay me millions of quid and stick a microphone in front of me and I'll say otherwise!