Here we go again. Just when some positivity was building around the place and an optimistic eye was being cast to the future, Clearlake Capital go hurtling full pelt back to the drawing board.
Mauricio Pochettinho leaving will make it six different managers in less than two years when next season rolls around, a record that would make Roman Abramovich blush.
But while the oligarch was keeping Chelsea‘s HR department busy by regularly handing out P45s, he was also regularly delivering world class players in the hope of delivering instant silverware.
There was no ‘Vision 2030’, talk of players as financial assets or ridiculous eight-year contracts that potentially hamstring the club.
Hiring and firing worked under the previous regime because Chelsea had a spine of world class talent that they were always looking to improve upon – not a group of players who look light years away from the top teams in the land.
Maybe the availability of gaining another Brighton ‘asset’, Roberto de Zerbi, was too good an opportunity to pass up, or maybe there is a master plan that we are not yet privy to.
Mauricio Pochettino was far (very far) from perfect. He made consistently baffling team selections, his substitutions seem to be planned months in advance and he has an awful propensity to throw away leads and points by getting the team crawl back into their (rather leaky) defensive shell.
The Argentine, in my opinion, cost Chelsea the Carabao Cup and a place in the FA Cup final by being overly cautious and negative -‘bottling it’ as rival fans would say.
The Blues were on top in both of those games for long periods but lacked the killer instinct to finish the job.
Some blame can be laid at the feet of the players, but both performances saw clear tactical shifts and negative substitutions from Poch that cost the team.
MAURICIO POCHETTINO had just started to turn Chelsea around.
An impressive run of end-of-season form saw the Blues leapfrog the likes of Manchester United and Newcastle to finish sixth in the Premier League – and earn a Europa League spot.
But it wasn’t enough to keep him in a job as it was announced on Tuesday evening that the Argentine had left.
Here are all Pochettino’s Stamford Bridge stats:
Premier League – 6th
FA Cup – Semi-finals (lost to Man City)
Carabao Cup – Runners-up (Lost to Liverpool)
Total record:
Games 51
Wins 26
Draws 11
Defeats 14
Goals for 103
Goals against 74
He was not necessarily the man that was eventually going to deliver titles and restore the glory days.
But here’s the thing Clearlake and everyone else knew when they appointed him – Poch is excellent at working with young and developing young players.
Since that FA Cup semi final defeat to Man City and the embarrassing 5-0 capitulation to Arsenal within the space of a couple of days, Chelsea have won five of six games and, more importantly, something really clicked in their performances.
With Enzo Fernandez (what a piece of business that is looking, by the way), Chelsea have been playing their best football of the season and managed, somehow, to steal sixth position.
The back four looked stronger, Moises Caicedo finally looked like he could be a £100million footballer one day – the irony is not lost on me – and both Nicolas Jackson and Marc Cucurella, among others, looked like they had turned a real corner.
Cole Palmer became the jewel in the crown on Poch’s watch and Chelsea looked like a one man team for most of the season.
But recent performances had us believing that one or two good signings in the summer, and some better injury luck, could see us back in the top four and competing for trophies.
But now? Who knows.
The only thing that would appease Chelsea fans is Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali and Co grovelling at the feet of Thomas Tuchel – another man Clearlake didn’t see eye to eye with – and righting that wrong.
Whether Tuchel would come back is one thing, whether a manager of his profile – ambitious and demanding – would want to work with this young and unproven squad is entirely another.
One thing is for sure, though. If Cleaklake carry on down this road they’ll need a rebrand to Vision 2060.
