The reports coming out about Chelsea’s sacking of Mauricio Pochettino are pointing to a few things that the ownership took issue with, to the degree that they decided to part ways.
Some of these are related to things behind the scenes that fans aren’t privy to – like his alleged desire to get a longer contract in place to create stability, or his desire for more control over transfers.
But some of the criticisms line up perfectly with gripes that fans had with Pochettino during the season.
Three very common complaints came up as things the owners raised in their meetings with Pochettino in the last few days: worries that his training was outdated and causing injuries, complaints about poor set pieces,
The big chances missed by players and the poor decision making in front of goal was also perhaps the most deeply frustrating aspect of the early parts of the season, and that’s also noted as a problem raised in the meetings. That always seemed more down to players, but some blamed a lack of discipline from Pochettino causing selfish play in front of goal.
The end-of-season review was very analytical. Understand the leadership team, especially Behdad Eghbali, came armed with data.
Some 'negative' data was presented to Pochettino showcasing some of Chelsea's season-long inconsistencies or weaknesses, including missed big chances… https://t.co/zNXs31btzw
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) May 21, 2024
Agreement with the problems, disagreement with the cure
What’s funny is that some of the people who moaned about these things at times during the season are now shocked and complaining about the decision to get rid of him – we can include ourselves in that category.
But the bad finishing we saw wasn’t his fault, and we made that point plenty of times too.
The set pieces were terrible, although many would point to the squad assembled by the sporting directors as a key factor in that too. They were legitimate complaints to have, and things the owners were entitled to ask about.
But the point is that overall, by the end of the season, the good was outweighing the bad, the squad was happy and the alternatives didn’t look nearly as good. No matter whether you thought his training sessions were bad or his set pieces sloppy, the short term was best served by stability.
