Mauricio Pochettino oversaw a golden era at Tottenham Hotspur, but can he replicate it at Chelsea?
카지노사이트Let’s turn the clock back to the summer of 2013. Tottenham sold their biggest star, Gareth Bale, to Real Madrid for €110m (£147m). With the money from Bale’s sale, Spurs brought in seven new players – Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela, Roberto Soldado, Paulinho, Vlad Kirikesh, Nacer Chadli, and Etienne Capoue.
The results were less than satisfactory. Expecting to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, Spurs finished sixth in the league and barely qualified for the UEFA Europa League. Manager Andre Villas-Boas was sacked mid-season and Tim Sherwood barely made it through the season. Of the seven signings, Eriksen was the only successful one.
Tottenham appointed Pochettino from Southampton in the summer of 2014. Pochettino’s appointment saw him offload non-performers such as Soldado, Emmanuel Adebayor, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Andros Townsend. Younger players took the place of the surplus resources.
The results have been spectacular. Under Pochettino, Tottenham have evolved into a Champions League contender every season. The likes of Hugo Lloris and Jan Vertonghen anchored the side, while youngsters like Eriksen, Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dele Alli blossomed. Tottenham finished EPL runners-up in 2016/17 and reached the UEFA Champions League final for the first time in the club’s history in 2018/19.
Pochettino’s time at Tottenham came to an end in November 2019 when he was sacked for poor performance. About four years later, Pochettino took over at Chelsea after a spell at Paris Saint-Germain. After a disappointing stint at PSG, Pochettino returned to England where he had experienced success.
Chelsea invested heavily ahead of the 2022/23 season, Todd Boly’s first since taking over the club, with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Wesley Fofana and Mark Cucurella arriving in the summer transfer window. Enzo Fernandes, Mikhail Mourinho, and Benoit Badiashil joined the club in the summer. In total, Chelsea spent €611.9 million in two transfer windows.
Despite the spending spree, the results were disastrous. Chelsea finished 12th in the league and missed out on European competition for the upcoming season. They didn’t lift a single trophy in the Champions League, FA Cup, or League Cup. The club has gone through three different managers – Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, and Frank Lampard.
When Pochettino took over, Chelsea overhauled their squad. They parted ways with first-teamers like Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, and Mateo Kovacic, as well as unnecessary players like Christian Pulisic and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. They brought in Nicholas Jackson, Leslie Ugochukwu, Axel Disassi and Christopher Nkunkwo. Most of them were young players, not over the age of 25.
There are similarities between Tottenham in 2014 and Chelsea in 2023. Both teams spent big in the transfer market, but the results were unsatisfactory. Spurs brought in seven players but finished sixth in the league, while Chelsea spent close to $900 million and finished 12th in the league. There’s one more thing they have in common. Pochettino is at the helm of both clubs.
At Tottenham, Pochettino showed his ability to stabilise a broken team and get the best out of young players. At the moment, Chelsea have a lot of young players like Mourinho and Jackson who need to develop their skills further. Can Pochettino recreate his Tottenham glory at Chelsea, the situation is similar to when he first arrived at Spurs.