Opinions on Mauricio Pochettino have never been so divided.
We’re halfway into his first season as Chelsea boss, meaning that fans and pundits alike are starting to feel more confident in judging his work so far.
The problem is that the context of his time at the cub makes his individual work hard to judge. There’s been endless injuries, tons of new signings to integrate and an exceptionally young squad to work with.
Some people are happy to take those excuses, others are less satisfied. The results have been worse than hoped for, but no so bad that plenty of people are willing to give him more time, given the situation.
One of those people is Dennis Wise, the former Blues midfielder who is convinced that, slowly but surely, Pochettino is going in the right direction. Speaking on TalkSport last night, Wise was positive about time being all the former Spurs coach needs to get things right – eventually.
“I think [Pochettino] needs time. It’s a transitional period. You’ve just got to wait. There’s a lot of players that he’s inherited and come to the club. I think he’s got to sort the right formula out and find the right connections. They are gradually getting there. It’s just a matter of time. You’ve got to be patient with what he’s doing. Give him enough time, I’m sure he’ll get us where we need to be. He’s a very good manager.”
Which side do you come down on?
One person’s “excuses” are another person’s “reasons.” Unfortunately, the loud and often obnoxious crowd SuperFrank so frequently amplifies see nothing but excuses. Despite claims that they “support” Chelsea, they seem to relish every new opportunity to whine, moan, and/or shout about the perceived lack of success/progress. Most of this invective is as misplaced as it is annoying.
The one thing you can expect with consistency from a young team is…inconsistency! It’s a normal part of the process, and yet SuperFrank and Co act like it’s not, lol! Scarcely a day passes that this segment of the fan base isn’t picking apart the latest match and finding fault with some perceived failing.
What makes this highly problematic (as well as exceedingly tedious) is that it relies on the false assumption that all progress is linear. It’s not! And, as anyone who has played the game (at any level) knows, progress in the changing room and on training ground doesn’t always translate immediately to progress on match day. More often than not, progress is non-linear—it happens in fits and starts and, especially when a squad is as young as ours, it’s sometimes one step backward in order to go two steps forward.
Of course, in a world where it’s all about “clicks,” the constant negativity is just the sort of lame commentary that sells. And so it goes… 🙁