9 Reasons Why Mauricio Pochettino Should Keep His Job... For Now

Many want Pochettino sacked, but it would be the wrong decision...right now.

The future of Mauricio Pochettino as Chelsea head coach has become a regular part of the Chelsea Twitter discourse in the last month or so.

Unlike with other manager out movements, this one seems to carry weight with a significant section of the fanbase, of different generations and ages. Not only that, but people are giving different reasons for it too:

• Not developing players

• Not playing a style of football suited to our squad

• Underlying metrics not been good for a while

• Not clearly defined pattern of play or style

• Not getting the best out of some of our best players

• Turning us into Spurs

I completely understand fans frustration and feel it myself, as my recent articles have made clear. Things are not great, we’re not performing well enough recently, and fans are tired of it. I do believe Poch does need to up his coaching game considerably as soon as possible to keep his job in the long term. His in-game management hasn’t been great and our performances haven’t been good recently either, and I can’t stand him playing players out of position.

But, as of today, (and this can always change), I firmly believe changing the manager right now would be the wrong decision. Here’s why:

1. Time: I’ve always been someone who gives managers time to build their team and implement their style. Poch has been in charge only 23 games so far. That’s no time.

2. Injuries: We have had over 30 injuries this season and about 8-10 players injured right now. We’ve lost key players to injury for months which has hindered us tactically and from an attacking perspective. That would make it tough for any manager.

3. Its Not That Bad (Yet): Despite our poor performances, over the whole season in all competitions, we’re not far off where I predicted / expected (bit worse, but not much), and with the likes of Christopher Nkunku, Ben Chilwell and Romeo Lavia coming back or close to coming back and a January window ahead where we could add some firepower up front, there’s a good chance our results could improve in the new year.

   

4. It Won’t Change Much This Season: In reality, given where we are, new manager is unlikely to improve our league position more than Pochettino could do. The highest we can realistically finish is 6th/7th and even that’s a challenge. Top 4 is gone and no manager is clawing that back. Not to mention, a mid season change causes too much disruption, risks more injuries and there’s no obvious, available replacement.

5. The Manager is not the Biggest Problem: The sporting directors and their lack of strong leadership, winning mentality, and poor decision making (Conor Gallagher up for sale, for example), would appoint his replacement, which defeats the object. If you’re going to change coach, change the sporting director first. The football structure needs to be overhauled, and its’ better to do that before changing managers.

6. No Obvious Replacement: There’s no point in hiring another interim manager. If Poch goes, the replacement would need to be the permanent man. The best candidates are unlikely to be available now, and changing managers mid season again isn’t a good look in trying to persuade someone good enough to join anyway.

7. Optics: No one is going to take Chelsea or this ownership seriously ever again if we change managers mid season two years in a row. It’s vital we give Mauricio Pochettino a full season to see what he can do, and assess things towards the end of the season, around March/April, and make a decision then.

   

8. The Players Are Still Behind Him: Despite our inconsistent form, there’s been literally no suggestion whatsoever the players have lost faith in Poch. Often before a manager is sacked, you hear leaks and dressing room stories about players falling out with or doubting the manager, or stories to deliberately undermine him. We’ve had none of this whatsoever, which is a testament both to the club for rooting out and cutting the toxicity from the squad, the character assessment of new recruits, and above all, Poch’s superb man management. Sacking him now could easily upset a lot of players who support him and create problems behind the scenes.

9. We Have a Chance of a Trophy: We’ve reached the league cup semi-finals, where we’ve drawn Middlesbrough over two legs. You’d expect even Chelsea as we are to beat Boro over two legs, which means we could well have a Wembley final to play and a trophy to potentially win, which would guarantee us European football for next season. Firing Poch before that competition is over would make no sense.

So there you go, nine reasons why we shouldn’t sack Mauricio Pochettino right now. Of course things change in football very quickly, but I don’t see him being sacked during the season. He’s doing enough to keep his job, there’s been not one rumour of his job being under threat, no shortlist of replacements, nothing. The club are clearly happy with him and want to back him in the January window and see how it goes till the summer.

But big decisions WILL need to be taken then, based on how the rest of the season goes. In my view a structural overhaul IS required with a new, truly elite sporting director and I wouldn’t be surprised if this happens either. Of course, part of the overhaul could include a new manager.

But that’s a discussion for the spring, not for December or January.

The Score