It’s clear that after an FA Cup exit at the hands of Man City and a 5-0 Premier League drubbing from London rivals, Arsenal, that Chelsea manager, Mauricio Pochettino, is living on borrowed time at Stamford Bridge.
The Argentinian has been hamstrung throughout his debut campaign as manager of the Blues thanks to long-term or consistent injuries to key players, and a lack of form form those that have been pulling on the jersey.
For example, Moises Caicedo has looked nothing like the player from his Brighton and Hove Albion days, and has come nowhere close to repaying the British transfer record fee paid for his services.
Not to mention the tinkering of owner, Todd Boehly, who has seemingly treated each transfer window under his ownership as the opportunity to move several players around, perhaps with one eye on Financial Fair Play.
Certainly, at this stage at least, his decisions have been shown to be a little knee-jerk in many respects, so it would be no surprise if he were to fire Pochettino at the end of the season.
It does appear that there’s one way that the Argentinian can extend his stay at the club, but it will require the first team to arguably win all of their remaining games in the 2023/24 Premier League season, and even then hope that results elsewhere go in their favour.
Europa League or bust for Pochettino
That’s because, as The Times (subscription required) report, if Chelsea qualify for the Europa League, Pochettino is likely to be handed a stay of execution.
Failure to make it into Europe’s secondary competition for next season, and there’s some certainty that he’ll be handed his P45.
In the eventuality of the latter scenario, any manager being courted for the position might think twice, given that Pochettino would’ve been the third manager got rid of under Boehly after Graham Potter and Champions League-winning Thomas Tuchel.