Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino on Chelsea’s Radar
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is the latest name on Chelsea’s shortlist to become their next manager.
It’s not surprising that Mauricio Pochettino’s youth movement with Tottenham and excellent campaign this season has seen the 43-year-old pop up on Chelsea’s shortlist to be their next manager according to the Daily Mail. It’s the second time Pochettino’s name has come up with managing another club, with Manchester United being the other, if Louis van Gaal is sacked.
But just like Manchester United not making a lot of sense in terms of the team’s current hierarchy running the club and structure with the youth academy and 25-man squad, those same guidelines apply to Chelsea as well. Not only would both teams be a step or two below Tottenham as of right now, but the added pressure to perform immediately is much bigger.
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Becoming a Premier League manager isn’t easy, there’s a lot of pressure. But managing an elite club with the history and background of the Blues and Red Devils, is a death sentence from the very beginning. Underperforming will result in being fired. Other jobs around the Premiership are a bit more lenient.
When looking at Mauricio Pochettino’s overall record of 121 wins, 79 draws and 110 losses in 310 games for a 39.03 win percentage in six-in-a-half years, it shows a mediocre record at best. It looks good if you’re only focusing on his record as Tottenham’s manager which is 45 wins, 21 draws and 23 losses in 89 games for a 50.56 win percentage in a year-and-a-half.
This doesn’t mean that Pochettino isn’t a good manager — because he clearly is. But the fact of the matter is that Chelsea and Manchester United would be hiring someone who has lost as many games as he has won. It’s out of character for two clubs who exude success, since they’ve won championships. Plenty of them.
So far, Mauricio Pochettino hasn’t won a single trophy as manager. But he is improving each year and getting better with his management and tactics which is evident with Tottenham this term. And a good reason why Pochettino has found an unmitigated success with Spurs is due to their hierarchy and structure.
Sure, Daniel Levy has a bad reputation when it comes to sacking managers who failed to achieve lofty goals which was paired up with a transfer committee poorly run by former technical director Franco Baldini at the helm for the past few seasons.
But looking at the Blues and the Red Devils’ track record of churning out youth players in recent seasons is abysmal. Both clubs’ success lies more in buying players instead.
Teams always buy players, that won’t change. But there’s a difference in how Tottenham goes about things. Kevin Wimmer, Kieran Trippier, Son Heung-min and Clinton N’Jie were added for depth and competition. Only Toby Alderweireld was signed to become a starter from the very beginning.
Another thing to consider is Tottenham’s youth movement. Spurs have promoted their own academy players and look for others who can fill in right now while their own talents continue to blossom. Only Dele Alli and Shilow Tracey are two youth signings who have joined. The rest are still from their academy.
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Mauricio Pochettino had a vision and his chairman backed him up the entire way. Paul Mitchell and Pochettino worked together in Southampton and that has continued with Tottenham. Basically, the three most important and influential people of Spurs are on the same page.
Now, in order for Mauricio Pochettino to even consider taking over as Chelsea’s new manager, the entire team’s structure has to be torn down and rebuilt completely to mirror what he has with the Lilywhites.
That means no more expensive signings. No more loans for youth players, because they could contribute right away. And lastly, no more egos. This is a team. A family. Any player who is about themselves won’t play for the first team anymore.
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But the funny thing about Mauricio Pochettino’s name being on Chelsea’s radar is that both teams don’t get along. The same can be said for Spurs’ relationship with Manchester United, but it’s not as heated as it is with other London-based clubs.
For the Blues to have a realistic shot at hiring Mauricio Pochettino, Roman Abramovich and Daniel Levy have to have a healthy relationship with each other. And from the looks of it, the chances of that happening are as slim as seeing José Mourinho getting a third stint to walk on the pitch of Stamford Bridge. Meaning it won’t happen. Ever.