Chelsea confirmed the departure of Mauricio Pochettino last night following a poor season for the Blues which saw the club finish sixth in the Premier League.
The decision to dismiss Mauricio Pochettino certainly came as a surprise with Chelsea hitting some form towards the end of the season and the team were beginning to click.
However, Todd Boehly has taken the decision to relieve the Argentine of his duties but Pochettino has not had things easy during his debut season in the capital and perhaps he should be cut some slack for his struggles at Stamford Bridge.
Similar to a lot of teams in the Premier League this season, the Blues have had their fair share of injury problems with two of Chelsea’s key summer signings in Romeo Lavia and Christopher Nkunku absent throughout the majority of the campaign and struggling.
Key summer signings absent
For Lavia, who joined the club from Southampton in the summer for £58 million, as per Sky Sports, he has struggled for fitness throughout the campaign and suffered a hamstring injury in March, which meant he missed the remainder of the campaign under Pochettino.
The signing of the Belgian was seen as the perfect addition to a midfield that contained Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez but this signing has not worked out. Lavia has played just 32 minutes of Premier League football this campaign.
Laurence Stewart and Paul Wistanley, Chelsea’s co-sporting directors were quoted when Lavia joined the club: “We believe he is ready to make an impact at Chelsea throughout the current campaign, and in the coming years.” This, so far, has not been the case.
As for Nkunku, the French forward joined the club showing lots of promise at RB Leipzig but he, too, has had injury problems of his own to deal with. The 27-year-old forward has played just 14 games in all competitions for the Blues as he has been side-lined with hamstring, knee and hip problems throughout his debut campaign.
Nkunku was meant to be key for Pochettino
Pochettino admitted following Nkunku’s goal against Brighton & Hove Albion that having the forward available for the Blues is very important.
“Now he needs to build and be consistent but I’m so happy for him,” Pochettino said. “In the end, he was so tired. So happy for him because he was suffering and now he is scoring goals and can be involved in the team again.
“It’s a very good thing for him. I am happy for him first and of course for the team because you are adding a player that is important for us.”
When Nkunku joined the Blues back in June of 2023, Stewart and Winstanley said: “Christopher has proved himself one of the standout attacking players in European football over the past two seasons and will add quality, creativity and versatility to our squad.”
Coming into a new environment without two players who Pochettino believed would be key to his side is bound to lead to a downturn in form.
Sacking the Argentine continues Boehly’s scattergun approach at Stamford Bridge as the American did not allow Pochettino to continue what he was building in West London.
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