Pochettino | Agrees to be US National Team Coach

I actually don't think he has done that bad. They are a lot better than they were last season (which isn't saying much of course). I think they are on the cusp of something clicking for them in the next few months. They have been good against the big teams, bar us.
 
They’re 10th. I’m absolutely baffled by suggestions he’s not ‘done that bad’, let alone something resembling ‘passable’ or ‘good’.

They’re literally the definition of mid-table. They’ll occasionally win some games, occasionally draw some and occasionally lose some. Just like Wolves. Just like Newcastle. Just like Brighton. And you could argue, just like United. Winning two games in a row isn’t a guarantee of an upturn in form, just like two losses in a row isn’t an indicator they’ll spiral into a relegation battle. They are where they are for good reason.

However, with the outlay at the club, much more needs to be expected from Pochettino and he deserves to be heavily scrutinised for their complete mediocrity with little sign of this abating. Back in the old days, he would probably have been sacked for his display as manager - given Roman’s ruthlessness. Whether Chelsea should be that ruthless is another question.
 
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He does a lot of good with developing players, but decisions like putting on Enzo today are just baffling to me.
 
Their game management is shocking. Plus on the pitch the players show a lot of immaturity and naivety. Looking at Spurs Poch side I don't think he's the guy you want to instill that into these players.. they'll continue to yoyo for the feesable future in my opinion.
 
He needs to at least sack the set piece coach. I have no idea why he had our defense set up so narrowly in the second half; it was criminally stupid mismanagement given the opposition.
 
I’m just glad we don’t have to play Luton again this season.
 
Here are the questions that will be asked by potential replacements:

Will I have more input in the makeup of the team than the previous two did?

Answer would be no.

Is it still a “seven year project” where the focus will be on bringing in almost exclusively very young players?

Yes.

So, given that… who would take the job that is better than Pochettino? This was my problem with firing Potter: not that I was overly enamored with him, but when you hire someone and tell them they have years to rebuild a structure using mostly kids that are not ready to win in a serious way right now… how do you then turn around and axe them for not winning immediately?

With the impending FFP cap going to 70 percent I still think their plan is a good one. There will be aging teams caught out when they literally can’t replace players. I’m not sure people realize how restrictive that is. But you have to have the right veteran presence.

We also need to examine every inch of our medical, training and nutrition. With our track record, signing someone with Lavia’s history and hoping it would get BETTER here? That can’t happen.

We were forced to play with 4 CB’s in defense for awhile with our massive injury hits… the team is crying out for more leadership on the pitch …and still they are talking about taking an offer for Gallagher, one of our only bright spots, against Poch’s wishes.

He is being put in tough spots all around by self inflicted organizational wounds.

Who of a higher caliber than him would sign up for that with anything other than collecting a paycheck in kind because they are past it?

I don’t love all of Poch’s decisions, but he’s far from the biggest issue. And he’s done some really good things with many of our players.
 
If Poch puts Sanchez straight back into the team after what we’ve seen from Petrovic so far, I might move myself over the Poch Out group. That would be unforgivable. Petrovic is incredible. He should be our undisputed number one for the foreseeable future.
 
I’m just glad we don’t have to play Luton again this season.

Bit random but I know a guy who supports Chelsea and he played for Luton as youth player up to 2017 (now left football completely and works in PR in London). Anyway Luton sent him out on loan to Hendon Town just before he was released and he actually played against Adebayo as he was at Bognor Regis at that time on loan. :lol: :lol:

Texted him today and it was certainly a surreal feeling watching him actually score v Chelsea for Luton although of course he was glad it wasn't the winner.

Anyway the big weakness Chelsea have is on crosses. Newcastle exploited it, McTominay certainly did and Luton probably realised too late the aerial bombardment is the way to expose Chelsea.

You've got West Ham soon haven't you so that will be a big test defending Ward Prowse set pieces.
 
If Poch puts Sanchez straight back into the team after what we’ve seen from Petrovic so far, I might move myself over the Poch Out group. That would be unforgivable. Petrovic is incredible. He should be our undisputed number one for the foreseeable future.


That would be a tough one for me as well.
 
Anyway the big weakness Chelsea have is on crosses. Newcastle exploited it, McTominay certainly did and Luton probably realised too late the aerial bombardment is the way to expose Chelsea.

You've got West Ham soon haven't you so that will be a big test defending Ward Prowse set pieces.
This is exactly the issue. It is partly coaching, and partly personnel. For all his valuable savvy, Silva isn’t very good in the air anymore, none of our midfielders are particularly adept in that area either.

Some of our taller and more athletic players seem to have poor instincts.

A lot of that can be coaching though. Why would you have Cole Palmer as a primary front post marker? Because he’s mildly tall? Makes no sense. It looked like half the team was marking zones, and others were marking man. 3 defenders clumped together, two attackers unmarked. Just really, really basic stuff that should be fixable. Even marginal improvement would make a big difference.
 
Only 3 points off United now, have they turned a corner? Lucky results? African shamans?
 
"3 defenders clumped together, two attackers unmarked. Just really, really basic stuff that should be fixable. Even marginal improvement would make a big difference."
It's been like that for so long, why hasn't it been addressed yet, nothing at all done to fix it..
 
This is what Chelsea fans deserve. Must be some of the most ungrateful fans to walk the earth. I get that United, Arsenal or Leipzig fans are un-happy with the transfer fees and performances of Mount, Havertz or Werner, but to relentlessly crap on former players that won you a f´n Champion League, the highest club honour in the world, that is shared between only 23 clubs (10 of them once), seems one of the most asinine fan behaviours. Hope they enjoy the better Chelsea, scoring goals galore. :lol:
 
The owners are our problem. They like Poch I think because he's a spineless yes man.

The squad is shite or injured, I don't think sacking Poch will change much. Probably years in the doldrums ahead for us.

Hopefully I'll be wrong and someone will get the players we've got to look like world beaters eventually...
 
Chelsea's front line was gastric yesterday. Madueke, Palmer, Sterling, Mudryk all below par.

Broja should have started
 
Boehly is meteoric levels of incompetent, perhaps the worst we've ever seen take charge of a top football club. I'm sure there are managers who could get more out of this squad, but when the guy at the top is THIS clueless, surely it infects the whole club and will ultimately make success impossible as long as he is in charge.

Whoever takes charge now will still need to deal with Mudryk on a long-term deal, Sterling on huge wages - actually, by my count, about a dozen players who have no business being there. It's a mess.
 
Boehly is meteoric levels of incompetent, perhaps the worst we've ever seen take charge of a top football club. I'm sure there are managers who could get more out of this squad, but when the guy at the top is THIS clueless, surely it infects the whole club and will ultimately make success impossible as long as he is in charge.

Whoever takes charge now will still need to deal with Mudryk on a long-term deal, Sterling on huge wages - actually, by my count, about a dozen players who have no business being there. It's a mess.

Sterling was signed before Boehly came in, in fairness - but his contract is an absolute albatross. Would much rather have Werner.
 
Chelsea has to be the most blatant example of how a poor structure above the manager affects the team's being put out on the pitch. They're like a more expensive and less cautious version of us :lol:
 
You can ultimately blame Boehly for hiring Poch but the manager has to take the responsibility. He’s the one who picks the team and is accountable for the style of play (or lack of).

When you see managers go into other clubs and instantly have a clear identity, make average players look somewhat decent and have a playing style that masks players weaknesses it becomes even clearer. This is what good managers do, not make everyone look worse. When we got Tuchel immediately from the first game against Wolves you saw a massive difference.
 
You can ultimately blame Boehly for hiring Poch but the manager has to take the responsibility. He’s the one who picks the team and is accountable for the style of play (or lack of).

When you see managers go into other clubs and instantly have a clear identity, make average players look somewhat decent and have a playing style that masks players weaknesses it becomes even clearer. This is what good managers do, not make everyone look worse. When we got Tuchel immediately from the first game against Wolves you saw a massive difference.

Exactly. Poch is a mess.

He needs to go back to the basics, have a strong back line, concede less goals.

Then he will be able to think again about attacking patterns, which at the moment are all over the place.
 
He was carried by that Spurs team. People live to underate them but they had:
Loris
Verthongen
Toby
Walker
Eriksen
Kane
Son
Great spine.
 
You can ultimately blame Boehly for hiring Poch but the manager has to take the responsibility. He’s the one who picks the team and is accountable for the style of play (or lack of).

When you see managers go into other clubs and instantly have a clear identity, make average players look somewhat decent and have a playing style that masks players weaknesses it becomes even clearer. This is what good managers do, not make everyone look worse. When we got Tuchel immediately from the first game against Wolves you saw a massive difference.

The fact that Poch has stubbornly stuck to this 4-2-3-1 despite very obviously not having the personnel is alarmingly stupid. He's potentially destroying the development of Colwill by insisting he play as a LB - it's extremely fecking obvious that with both LBs out we should be going 3 at the back with Maatsen and Gusto as wingbacks. Instead we have Colwill shoehorned in there and Maatsen being sent out on loan when he's not being used as a right winger.

Beyond stupid management. It was the same with Potter - obviously the players are letting him down but Poch is doing a terrible job of putting them into positions to succeed.
 
He even had the audacity to say last night's performance was good. :lol:

In Poch's defense the squad is lacking experience and our injury record has been absolutely ridiculous. I don't think I'm wrong when I say we've had roughly 10 players unavailable for just about every game of the season so far and it doesn't look to be getting any better either with players continuing to drop like flies at the same rate as other players coming back from their injuries. But even so, many of his decisions throughout the season have been absolutely shocking, such as continuing to play Colwill at LB as pointed out by @TheMagicFoolBus.

But despite me never really rating Poch as a manager and recognizing he's made tons of mistakes this season I doubt we'd be any better off if we sacked him now. No point hiring a new manager now who'd just face the same issues with the inconsistent young players and a ridiculously injury prone squad. Personally I'll give him a couple of months to start showing a better style of football and more consistent performances. For me it's not even about the league position, I just want to see some improvement and a spark to give me hope things will eventually get better. Whether we actually qualify for European football (UEL/UECL) or not is irrelevant to me but as long as the trajectory is pointing upwards I could be willing to give him the season and have him start off with a clean slate next summer. But if the performances keep zig-zagging from decent to absolutely terrible and Poch himself continues to make baffling decisions every game he's not going to be in the job for much longer and rightly so.

The hand he's been dealt definitely hasn't made his job easy but if he still insists on shooting himself in the foot instead of making the most of what he's got then ultimately he only has himself to blame.