Here we are in the final phase of Mauricio Pochettino’s first season at Chelsea, and despite having seen 39 matches, it feels like we’re no closer to working out whether or not he’s been a success, and whether he deserves to stay.
Results have been poor at times, but the injuries and other circumstances do allow some leeway.
What that means is that his future is going to be decided between now and the end of the season. He hasn’t done well enough or badly enough to convince anyone either way, and it’s all going to come down to 7 very interesting games, if you ask us.
First the soft 4 – Burnley at home tomorrow, Man U at home, Sheffield United away, Everton at home. We need to win 3 of those, and it’s not impossible we sneak a win over Man U and make it 4.
That sets us up for the 3 games after that which is really where the campaign rests. Man City in the FA Cup semis, Arsenal and Aston Villa away. We need points on the board before those tricky fixtures, that’s for sure. Hopefully with the fittest squad he’s had all season, those matches against teams far above us in the table will tell us a lot about whether Pochettino is actually making something of this squad or not.