CHELSEA APPOINT FORMER TOTTENHAM BOSS MAURICIO POCHETTINO AS NEW HEAD COACH
Chelsea Football Club have appointed Mauricio Pochettino as the new first team head coach, the club announced on Monday.
The Argentinian signs at Stamford Bridge on a two-year contract, with a club option for a further year, on a deal that might keep him in West London until June 2026.
Chelsea owners, Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali, Jose E. Feliciano, Mark Walter and Hansjorg Wyss, said on Monday that they were looking forward to having a world-class coach at the club. A statement from the owners read: “The sporting team conducted a diligent and thoughtful process that the Board is proud of. We are delighted that Mauricio will be joining Chelsea. Mauricio is a world-class coach with an outstanding record. We are looking forward to having him on board.”
Four years after leaving the Premier League in 2019 and just a year removed from his head coaching job with French Giants Paris Saint-Germain, the Argentine ace is now back in English football.
One of the most revered managers in recent history by both players and fans alike, Pochettino is a proven strategist and a successful manager in the Premier League. In his five years between 2014 and 2019 at Tottenham Hotspur, Pochettino guided the Lilywhites to 3 top-four finishes, and two cup finals including one League Cup final in March 2015 and the club’s first ever UEFA Champions League final in May 2019.
A well-renowned attacking-minded head coach, Pochettino has the knack and reputation for developing young players within a strong squad ethos. The Murphy-born head coach is credited with the development of young English players from Spurs’ academy like Harry Kane, Dele Alli, and Eric Dier who went on to becoming key players for both the club and the national team.
“Mauricio’s experience, standards of excellence, leadership qualities and character will serve Chelsea Football Club well as we move forward,” said Chelsea’s co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley. “He is a winning coach, who has worked at the highest levels, in multiple leagues and languages. His ethos, tactical approach and commitment to development all made him the exceptional candidate.”
The club also confirmed that Pochettino will be joined by his long-term assistant coaches Jesus Perez, Miguel d’Agostino, goalkeeping coach Toni Jimenez and his son Sebastiano Pochettino, who was the fitness coach and sports scientist under Pochettino at both Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain. The four men are a tight-knit group with a lot of experience of working together and now join Pochettino at Chelsea as members of his coaching staff.
Pochettino replaces interim Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard, who filled in at the position after the club sacked head coach Graham Potter in April. Lampard could only guide Chelsea to a 12th-place finish in the Premier League this season and said on Sunday after the club’s 1-1 draw against fourth-place Newcastle United that he was a big fan of the Argentinian.
“I’m a big fan of Pochettino as a manager,” said Lampard. “I think he’s a very good manager. But it’s not about how each individual might be, it’s about getting the right high level of manager. The ‘standard’ is a really, sort of a simple word but it’s so relevant to this club at the minute. The standards collectively had dropped. I can be honest about that… The standards as a collective for a club like Chelsea have to be at the maximum and at the minute, when I came in, very quickly I could see that that wasn’t there enough.”
As per European insider, Fabrizio Romano, Pochettino was not approached by Tottenham Hotspur and did not therefore turn down an offer to be the North London club’s new boss. The 51-year-old was not considered a candidate to return to his old stomping ground but was always a priority for Chelsea. According to multiple reports, Pochettino is excited about the project at Chelsea and cannot wait to build a future with the club.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Victor Gutierrez Navarro. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.