A frustrated Mauricio Pochettino was back in a press conference last night, where he trotted out his favourite line: this is not the old Chelsea, this is a new age where expectations should be lower.
This was a good time to use that line, given how many people had unfavourably compared our showing yesterday to some of the dominant displays we were used to seeing at Wembley in the past. Nicolas Jackson’s freeze ups in front of goal were being compared to the way Didier Drogba would win us trophies almost single-handedly in those situations.
“I feel disappointed, but we need to split two things: we think only in the history of Chelsea, and the team are not matching the history of the club. We need to accept this team in a different way, not to compare it with Chelsea’s history,” the coach explained.
Pochettino’s regular attempts to lower expectations are understandable – he wants to remind everyone that he should be judged by this new standard, not against the title winners of old.
Unfortunately, that also means the Argentine ends up becoming the messenger for the new reality – we’re not just waiting to improve enough to compete with the top clubs anymore, we’re no longer trying to compete with them, to some degree. The vast spending of the last two years was done in order to create a profitable business, not a winning machine of the type we have been used to when Roman Abramovich wouldn’t think twice about spending big on a veteran player who could improve the first team.
That’s a message not many Chelsea fans want to swallow. No matter how many times they’re told by their manager that the focus is now on being profitable rather than successful, they don’t want to hear it.
You can see Pochettino speaking in the clip embedded here, with this answer coming after 3 minutes:
Absolutely right, the Americans came to do business and not to build upon on our achievements in the last few years
Codswallop.
Poch isn’t saying “we’re no longer trying to compete” with the top clubs. That’s you, SuperFrank, totally twisting his words to support your usual “the sky is falling narrative.” It’s pretty pathetic as journalism goes, and it’s not much better coming from a so-called supporter.
All the manager has tried to do from day one is manage expectations such that this group can grow without being crushed by the weight of unfair expectations. And all you’ve done, SuperFrank, is constantly try to impose those unreasonable expectations (and when that isn’t enough to twist Poch’s words to try and construe them as self-indicting). The man didn’t come to Chelsea to not compete for trophies, lol! But he’d be insane, given the youth in the team, to set them up for failure after failure by accepting unreasonable expectations. For example, there’s NO scenario in which this Chelsea group should be EXPECTED to beat City (or Liverpool) at this stage in their evolution. Those sides feature seasoned veterans (many of them among the best in the world) and are led by managers who’ve been able to build their respective projects over the course of nearly a decade. Ours is a group of largely unproven youngsters who’ve had four managers in less than 24 months. Poch has been with them for a mere 8 months. So, in what world is it reasonable to expect that they should already be beating the likes of Manchester City??? Answer: In no world! That’s not lowering expectations. It’s not saying we don’t aim to beat them anytime soon. It’s a simple matter of fact!
I like your sincere articulation on the issue
I 100% agree that Chelsea hasn’t been made for more success at the top level, they ruined that when they invested in potential and no experience for potential to learn from. The worst part is that everyone can see that the new owners strategy is a fail but they steadfastly continue with it.
As for the profitable business, show me the profit? We are struggling to meet FFP like never before and selling all our best assets to make ends meet. The situation is dire and worse than it has ever been. The new owners have made Chelsea FC the laughing stock of the Premiere League and they will be writing books about how this once successful club was ruined in such a short period of time.
Let’s not forget that blame also lies with the UK government (Boris Johnson and Chris Bryant) and Arsenal supporter (Robey Warshaw) and (Judus – George Osborne) who brokered this deal with the Raine Group. They refused to acknowledge Ratcliffe’s bid, citing it as not serious and too late but then accepted his investment for Manchester United. What happened to the True Blues consortium and who were the other bidders hidden from the public? This was an opportunity for the fans to take ownership of a once debt free club which is now in around 3.5 billion of debt.
As for the sanctions, the UK government have zero evidence connecting Roman Abramovich to Putin. This was clear in the Abramovich Berezovsky court case with Abramovich won. They found no evidence linking him to Putin in corruption then and have no hard evidence now. The only purported evidence they have now is an unverified document widely promoted by the lying Guardian newspaper provided by Alexei Navaiy.
Let’s not forget the Chelsea Supporters Trust who had an opportunity to run the club as a charity but declined the offer and fed our club to the dogs.
It’s a terrible state of affairs and breaks my heart to see what corrupt politics has done to our club.
Chelsea fc .. Young players have alot of potential
My manager I am a Chelsea fan for over 20 years experience but you’ve said it all. What the fans are trying to compare are incomparable era.You are doing your best. We appreciate your sacrifices.
Mr Pochetino telling fans to accept new reality are you telling them to accept downgrade or to lower standards?