FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE – Since Todd Boehly and BlueCo took management of Chelsea in the summertime of 2022, there was little to shout about.
The Blues ended the primary season beneath their management in a lowly twelfth, all of the whereas sporting a FIFA Membership World champions badge throughout their chests. It served as a reminder of their speedy downfall.
After biking by means of 4 head coaches – interim or in any other case – in 2022/23, Mauricio Pochettino was tasked with rebuilding Chelsea from just about the bottom up heading into this season. A bloated squad was in determined want of trimming, with a spotlight positioned on conserving and bettering the membership’s youthful property.
However for a lot of final spring, it seemed like Pochettino would head again to former membership Tottenham Hotspur, who had been in want of a progressive successor to Antonio Conte. Followers chanted Pochettino’s title at residence video games by means of the ultimate stretch of the season, however Spurs did not even decide up the cellphone to their outdated boss.
They ultimately settled on Ange Postecoglou, who had the north Londoners sitting high of the Premier League desk come the autumn. When a flaky Chelsea headed to N17 in November, Pochettino appeared overawed at a primary return to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, maybe nonetheless a bit smitten.
Chelsea emerged as 4-1 victors on a bonkers night time however that was extra right down to Tottenham’s collapse than their genius. However you’ll be able to’t take something away from Pochettino for his or her win within the reverse fixture.
Spurs’ yearly disappointment at Stamford Bridge was a bit extra surprising this time round. Their hosts have been out and in of shambles and their sturdy finish to Sunday’s 3-2 loss in opposition to Arsenal steered Postecoglou’s troops would carry some momentum into Thursday’s match even off the again of defeat.
Within the blue nook, Chelsea had solely 11 match senior gamers to name upon. Pochettino put collectively the one adults he had and wanted an ideal sport out of them. He acquired simply that.
Targets in both half from Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson – each from free-kicks – ensured Chelsea raced away from Tottenham, whereas they lastly confirmed a defensive solidity that Pochettino grew to become recognized for instilling throughout his peak years at Spurs.
Within the reverse dugout, Postecoglou grew exasperated along with his aspect’s lack of coherence, composure, and above all, persona. They shrank within the highlight and have become the newest Tottenham victims of their Stamford Bridge graveyard.
Pochettino’s job has come into query a good bit over the course of his first season in west London, however his gamers have by no means thrown within the towel – each on the pitch and within the media – and there’s a burning spirit amongst them that’s required to make up for the expertise hole in some areas. The 11 gamers accessible to the boss right here, mercifully, made sense collectively on a soccer pitch and had been of the appropriate profiles wanted to play his manner.
When at Tottenham, Pochettino was a wonderful firefighter. His sides not often went by means of poor or barren runs, and in the event that they did, he all the time knew find out how to defuse conditions and spin them again into positives. He was the face of the membership, even when that meant absorbing unfavorable information and outcomes. He sacrificed himself for the great of the group.
That selfless attribute is on show at Chelsea and the Blues want to stay by him, if solely partially because of the lack of a superior candidate accessible to them. The place Postecoglou’s stubbornness – significantly with Spurs’ set-piece points – price the guests, Pochettino’s aspect discovered a method to win by any means mandatory, preventing for each inch and by no means relenting.
Spurs handed on Pochettino final yr seeking discovering a real and non secular successor. His preliminary reign unravelled when he did not kick off a brand new cycle. Amid the frenzy of the Chelsea circus, he is nonetheless discovering a method to calm the storm. They’re solely three factors off a Europa League spot heading into the ultimate stretch of the season regardless of such nonsenses alongside the way in which.
