POCHETTINO IS TOO EXPENSIVE TO SACK
++ Chelsea fear spending rule breach if they pay compensation ++ Recruitment team under fire over inexperienced squad ++ Downbeat players struggling to understand boss’s tactics
CHELSEA are concerned that sacking Mauricio Pochettino could put them in danger of breaching Premier League spending rules, with the club’s precarious financial situation a major factor as they consider whether to make a managerial change.
It is not thought the Argentine is in immediate danger with the club hoping to get to the season’s end before performing a review. He could even deliver European football if they can win the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool later this month. But should the campaign continue to nosedive that review could be sooner.
Pochettino, whose side play Aston Villa in an FA Cup replay tomorrow, has 18 months left on his contract and dismissing him and his large back-room team would cost Chelsea in excess of £10million. Any pay-off agreed before June would count towards the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules this season, which Chelsea are already battling to avoid breaching after spending over £1billion on new players since the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital takeover.
Finance experts have estimated that Chelsea need to raise tens of millions from player sales by the end of June to avoid being charged for breaching spending limits, an issue exacerbated by their failed attempts to sell homegrown players such as Armando Broja in January.
Clubs are allowed to lose up to £105m over a three-year period and compensation packages for sacked managers are not excused. Pochettino boasts a large backroom staff, having arrived with Jesus Perez, Miguel d’Agostino, Toni Jimenez and his son, Sebastiano.
Chelsea’s new ownership have already spent £10m paying off Thomas Tuchel, and Graham Potter is due £13m.
Chelsea were willing to offload Broja, Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah last month as homegrown players represent pure profit in PSR terms. Yet Broja only left on loan for Fulham after their £50m valuation priced him out of a permanent move, and Chalobah stayed put. Gallagher’s price is dropping as he will enter the final 12 months of his contract in the summer.
Chelsea’s £1billion recruitment drive is also now under internal scrutiny as the club identify factors behind their poor season.
Paul Winstanley, Laurence Stewart and Joe Shields all hold senior recruitment positions but there is a feeling they have assembled a squad lacking leadership and experience.
Traditionally, the club have relied on senior professionals such as John Terry, Frank Lampard and Petr Cech to uphold standards, but also to ensure the manager’s tactical instructions are implemented on the pitch. But in Sunday’s loss to Wolves, only Thiago Silva and substitute goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli were aged over 30 in the matchday squad.
One Premier League coach told Mail Sport that they have targeted Chelsea’s young core as a specific weakness this season. ‘It’s not a bad dressing room full of egos, but it’s not a good dressing room either,’ said a source close to the club. ‘They are mainly young boys learning their way. The only real leader is Thiago Silva, whose wife has publicly called for the manager to be sacked! It’s a mess.’
Sources suggest the fact there are three recruitment voices has led to difficulties in implementing a clear transfer strategy, particularly the failure to sign an experienced striker in three successive transfer windows. ‘The recruitment team are getting away with it,’ a source told Mail Sport. ‘They’ve signed some talented players no question, but they haven’t signed a team. The balance is all wrong and it would be very difficult for any manager. The manager isn’t the problem.’ There are also concerns that the policy of signing younger players has led to complications in the team adapting to different tactics and patterns of play. Additionally, squad morale is said to be noticeably low at the Chelsea’s Cobham HQ. Insiders close to the first-team squad describe an atmosphere of players leaving as soon as they can after training, with little extra work being done. There are also concerns over players’ ability to receive analytical information. Certain players are said to have shown difficulty in an accepting critical feedback. Pochettino hasn’t performed as expected, but injuries have played a part. The Argentine’s cause is also helped by the fact that he has had little influence over the club’s recruitment strategy. Chelsea didn’t sign anyone in January, despite Pochettino wanting a left back and striker.
Pochettino’s reign will be studied statistically at Chelsea before any decision is made — as you would expect of a club owned by a private equity company. And unfortunately for Pochettino the statistics are grim after the manager marked moving alongside Potter’s final tally of 31 matches at Chelsea with the loss to Wolves.
The similarities between their two records are remarkable, with both having taken 31 points from 23 Premier League games. With all results included Pochettino has achieved three more wins, although that haul has been boosted by domestic cup victories against lower league opposition, whereas Potter delivered Champions League wins over AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund to leave the club in the quarterfinals before he was sacked. Any progress in terms of results has been minimal.
Pochettino has brought improvement in Chelsea’s attacking output, with 58 goals scored in 31 games compared to 33 under Potter, but this uplift has been undermined by a leaky defence that has conceded 45.
Although Pochettino is popular with players and staff there is a feeling at Stamford Bridge that he should have done better, given that unlike Potter and Lampard, he had a full pre-season to work with his new players. Chelsea’s failure to qualify for Europe this season should also have worked in Pochettino’s favour.
All four managers who have worked under the new ownership have had to tolerate an approach which other staff at the club describe as micro-managing, with their irritations ranging from minor gripes like unsolicited post-match pep talks to potentially serious ones with major ramifications, such as many of the club’s senior medical staff being let go halfway through last season.
Although Boehly has scaled back his involvement this season, co-owner Behdad Eghbali remains very hands-on when he is in London, which is often.
Pochettino has not complained and is used to encountering difficulties when ‘managing up’ following his previous jobs at Tottenham and Paris SaintGermain, although a source close to him has wondered privately whether he regrets not drawing firmer lines with the owners earlier in his reign.
Chelsea confirmed yesterday that Pochettino will take today’s press conference ahead of the trip to Villa Park. The questions will come thick and fast.