When Mauricio Pochettino was announced as the new Chelsea manager after the disastrous reigns of Graham Potter and Frank Lampard, it was like a breath of fresh air.
The Blues had become an embarrassment both on and off the pitch but the Argentinian’s pedigree, never in question before his arrival at Stamford Bridge, was supposed to mean that the club could be confident in their appointment.
Fast forward a few months and Pochettino is faring no better than his predecessors.
In fact, one could argue that he’s doing significantly worse given the signings that he was able to make in the summer.
A record capture for Moises Caicedo, acquiring the excellent and intelligent Cole Palmer from Man City, bringing Levi Colwill back from Brighton… not to mention having players such as Enzo Fernandez and Raheem Sterling already in situ.
Pochettino has a brilliant squad to choose from but he can’t seem to get any iteration of it to gel properly.
Injuries to key players hasn’t helped matters, though one could question the appointments in those areas too. Further, why do the players keep getting injured in any event? Does the training regime need to be looked at?
The last straw has to be a Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg defeat to Middlesbrough.
Pochettino is out of excuses now and if he can’t rally his troops to overturn that defeat in the second-leg at Stamford Bridge, Todd Boehly needs to look elsewhere for a new manager.
It will mean more upheaval for the first-team squad but there’s little point in flogging a dead horse.