Pochettino | Agrees to be US National Team Coach

Gandalf said:
There has been a fair amount of speculation over the lack of control he had over coaching hires. Something about the club deciding to hire a set pieces coach mid season which he opposed and was effectively told to stay in his lane with it later turning into an entire set pieces department being set up that would not report to him. He clearly felt a coaching hire was his lane and this was a level of interference in his area of expertise that he could not accept.
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If this is true, then we better hire McKenna, because no one with an actual CV or pedigree (or self esteem) would take the job under that circumstance.
 
Can't believe that. They were improving under him and I think only City and Arsenal won more points than them since the start of the year.

What a shambles.
 
TheMagicFoolBus said:
Carry on momentum to what, a top 4 finish at best? Poch simply isn't a top level coach in the modern game and he brings absolutely nothing to the table tactically. Better to get him out now.
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YES, a top 4 finish. And another year to gel and grow as a young team and build on what they were starting to show.

If you get greater cohesion, the new medical and training staff bedded in, many of the “young” players are now 24 to 26 next season after hopefully making top 4?

That is absolutely where our goals should have been.

We are not going to hire someone who is going to come in here and change everything, disrupt our squad, and make us challenge for major honors next year. Not going to happen.

Mckenna: people remember that Poch’s Southampton teams were a class above everyone in clubs that size … a few steps better than Ipswich.

De Zerbi: let’s just point out that Poch had him in his back pocket the entire year. I saw nothing special there. Has he sold Clearlake on the idea that he can make Mudryk a Balon D’Or finalist? We would fall for something like that.

Amorim isn’t coming.

Tuchel …. Why would he accept the structure and processes they couldn’t agree on before?
He will be like throwing a grenade on this team.
 
Think Poch's insistence on a faster style of play was starting to get through to the players. Caicedo and Nico Jackson have steadily improved as the season has gone on, and obviously Palmer is a gem.

It's not just the results. The passing has been really snappy and they've looked fluent going forwards.

Ultimately, they play better football without Enzo.
 
LDUred said:
Think Poch's insistence on a faster style of play was starting to get through to the players. Caicedo and Nico Jackson have steadily improved as the season has gone on, and obviously Palmer is a gem.

It's not just the results. The passing has been really snappy and they've looked fluent going forwards.

Ultimately, they play better football without Enzo.
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So would you take him at Utd then?
 
Amazing decision.

Poch is a quality manager and it seemed like he finally got through to the players. The players loved and respected him as well. What a terrible decision.

I am ETH in all the way, but if they do sack ETH I hope Poch is up there on the list. This whole bullshit about Poch being loser mentality is all crap. He is a quality manager who can get a team to punch above its weight. With a good structure he can do much much better.
 
Really wish for the sport's sake the Yanks would stick to their NFL shite.
 
adkb said:
Amazing decision.

Poch is a quality manager and it seemed like he finally got through to the players. The players loved and respected him as well. What a terrible decision.

I am ETH in all the way, but if they do sack ETH I hope Poch is up there on the list. This whole bullshit about Poch being loser mentality is all crap. He is a quality manager who can get a team to punch above its weight. With a good structure he can do much much better.
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Totally agree about appointing him IF Tuchel goes back to Chelsea, however firmly Erik out so will be disappointed if he gets another season
 
This is unexpected. It makes no sense at all. Isnt Chelsea just behind City and Arsenal in terms of points in the 2nd half of the season?
 
Yeah, but unlike at Arsenal you don't get trophies for that kind of stuff at other clubs.

"The top 4 trophy"
"2nd behind the top 2 for half a season trophy"
"Self appointed best football in the world trophy"
"We would have won the league if so and so was fit trophy"

And many more.
 
adkb said:
Amazing decision.

Poch is a quality manager and it seemed like he finally got through to the players. The players loved and respected him as well. What a terrible decision.

I am ETH in all the way, but if they do sack ETH I hope Poch is up there on the list. This whole bullshit about Poch being loser mentality is all crap. He is a quality manager who can get a team to punch above its weight. With a good structure he can do much much better.
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He was, he isn't anymore.

The games passed him by the same way it did Mou.
 
WeePat said:
This seems rather overdramatic. We won 5 games at the end of the season, 3 of those opponents were essentially on the beach with nothing to play for. I find it mad how quickly the narrative can change. We spent 8 out of 9 months this season huffing and puffing in 10-12th place. It's been a god awful season.
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Goes a little bit deeper than that though doesn’t it?
Since matchday 20 (half the season), you’re comfortably the 4th place team in the league, picking up just two points less than Liverpool in that time. Better still is that the form has progressed on quite a linear basis the longer Poch has been there, ultimately culminating in Chelsea ending games 30-38 with just one less point than Arsenal.

When you put that together with your impressive displays versus City, and the players claiming they love Poch, there’s no question for me that Chelsea & Poch were ending the season in extremely promising fashion.

So I for one am fecking DELIGHTED you’ve pressed the reset button.
 
TheMagicFoolBus said:
Our squad really isn't that bloated at this point? Last year that was obviously the case but this year we used only 1 player more than you did - unless you feel like your squad is also (semi) absurdly bloated?
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We played at least 5 under 21s academy players because we were out of options due to injury.
 
kouroux said:
Is 5 games of good form enough to offset an entire season of shite ? Not for me.
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As has been pointed out, they’ve picked up just two less points than Liverpool in the second half of the season.
The good form you could realistically expect of a young side that struggled to feck last season has actually been going on since Christmas.
 
Dancfc said:
He was, he isn't anymore.

The games passed him by the same way it did Mou.
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Beg to differ.

He is still class. Chelsea and United both are poisoned. And he actually started getting results.
 
adkb said:
That is an amazing stat.
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Only lost 3 games in the second half of the season too, compared with 8 in the first half.

A blind man can see that Chelsea had a shocking start under a new manager after a horrendous season in 2022/23, but since match day 20, Poch and the players have massively turned it around and they look every bit the side they could best hope for at this stage of their project.

It’s unbelievable how many people and especially Chelsea fans are forgetting they finished 2022-33 on 44 fecking points, in 12th. That takes some turning around with the confidence of the squad etc.
He’s improved them by 19 points & 6 positions, all whilst looking stronger and stronger every week under him.

Sacking him now is hilarious.
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Goes a little bit deeper than that though doesn’t it?
Since matchday 20 (half the season), you’re comfortably the 4th place team in the league, picking up just two points less than Liverpool in that time. Better still is that the form has progressed on quite a linear basis the longer Poch has been there, ultimately culminating in Chelsea ending games 30-38 with just one less point than Arsenal.

When you put that together with your impressive displays versus City, and the players claiming they love Poch, there’s no question for me that Chelsea & Poch were ending the season in extremely promising fashion.

So I for one am fecking DELIGHTED you’ve pressed the reset button.
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Would you take him if INEOS sacked Erik,know we are long term admirers but still prefer Tuchel. I am probably still influenced by the fact he won Champions League with Chelsea.
 
croadyman said:
Would you take him if INEOS sacked Erik,know we are long term admirers but still prefer Tuchel. I am probably still influenced by the fact he won Champions League with Chelsea.
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I’d take him, he works much better at nurturing talent than Tuchel, and that should be a basic requirement for a United mananger.

People calling him a failure after taking them from 12th to 6th, and from 44 points to 63 points is absolutely bonkers to me. Is it really surprising it took half a season to turn that 2022/2023 44 point muppet train around?
Since Christmas and especially in the games versus City, he’s 100% won me over again. He’s been brilliant with Palmer too, just as he was with young lads at Southampton and Spurs.
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
As has been pointed out, they’ve picked up just two less points than Liverpool in the second half of the season.
The good form you could realistically expect of a young side that struggled to feck last season has actually been going on since Christmas.
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The Carabao Cup final fiasco + the whole season makes it an easy exit for me.
 
kouroux said:
The Carabao Cup final fiasco + the whole season makes it an easy exit for me.
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That’s just such a bizarre way to look at it though, he took over a team that finished last season with 44 points in 12th.
They now have 63 points, finished 6th. The second half of the season they picked up just two less points than Liverpool and lost just 3 games.

You’re basically saying it’s an easy sack because he didn’t hit the ground running after taking over a clusterfeck side/club that managed 44 points in 2022/23.
 
It's not surprising but I do think it makes his appointment an even worse decision in hindsight.

He's known as a coach who likes to build and can improve young players from his time at Southampton and Spurs. Chelsea were a mess when he joined, and have a bunch of new players still settling in but lots of young talent he can work with. Those players need time too. If you're gonna appoint Poch you gotta give him time there because he's that sort of manager and he's not responsible for the mess he walked into. The guy finally seems to be getting something out of the team, and now he's out.

That said, they were fecking shocking for large parts of the season so yeah, not surprised at all. Loving this Chelsea project so far!
 
I just don't get why you hire a Poch type character, only to bin him off after a season. The Chelsea decision makers are weird. Around 6th was the best he was going to achieve for them this year, what with how he works and what bizarre collection of players made up their squad. And I don't even really rate him!
 
I don’t think Pochettino is particularly special but seems odd to him him when they had seemingly turned a corner and really improved over the last couple of months. I suppose they have already lined up someone better.
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
That’s just such a bizarre way to look at it though, he took over a team that finished last season with 44 points in 12th.
They now have 63 points, finished 6th. The second half of the season they picked up just two less points than Liverpool and lost just 3 games.

You’re basically saying it’s an easy sack because he didn’t hit the ground running after taking over a clusterfeck side/club that managed 44 points in 2022/23.
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Not really, just that a middle ground could have been found. Poch hasn't done well, Chelsea are known to be ruthless. Poch leaving isn't that much of a surprise. They have crazy standards
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
I’d take him, he works much better at nurturing talent than Tuchel, and that should be a basic requirement for a United mananger.

People calling him a failure after taking them from 12th to 6th, and from 44 points to 63 points is absolutely bonkers to me. Is it really surprising it took half a season to turn that 2022/2023 44 point muppet train around?
Since Christmas and especially in the games versus City, he’s 100% won me over again. He’s been brilliant with Palmer too, just as he was with young lads at Southampton and Spurs.
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Absolutely, he's a manager who really noticeably improves many of the players he works with. I saw it first hand at Spurs, and I saw it as Southampton where I was watching closely at the time knowing we would need a new manager soon. And I was seeing it at Chelsea too. I didn't really pay attention to what happened at PSG so I'm not sure about that, but it's quite a different circumstance. I really think he would be a massive boost for many of the young players United have coming through at the moment and already playing in the first team if he was appointed.
 
Any talented young manager that takes that Chelsea job is an idiot and has idiots advising him.
 
Circus at Chelsea just keeps on going.

Saying that I wouldn't take him at United.
 
VP said:
Really wish for the sport's sake the Yanks would stick to their NFL shite.
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No, no, they’re here to teach us how it’s done. They’re disrupting it you see and then putting it on Apple TV or Netflix for all of us to see in full 4K glory
 
I don't see any problem with the sacking. You don't have to wait till the club hits rock bottom to sack manager, of course he is a good manager but Chelsea are more ambitious, so they need better manager.
 
Huh. Did not see that coming.

I'd have him at United, if only because the British press absoutely love him. At the same time ETH was 10 odd points ahead of him, there were countless articles brutalising the dutchman, and lots of 'aw, Poch has it really tough at that crazy Chelsea club'.

Bit like when we had Mourinho - we were treated totally differently for a bit.
 
roonster09 said:
I don't see any problem with the sacking. You don't have to wait till the club hits rock bottom to sack manager, of course he is a good manager but Chelsea are more ambitious, so they need better manager.
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I’m just not sure what Chelsea expected after finishing 12th on 44 points?
It took Poch around 4 months to sort them out and they’ve looked every bit a top 4 team again since then, able to go toe to toe with City and being the 4th best team in the league since Christmas, winning 11 and losing just 3.

Was the only acceptable thing for Chelsea for a manager to come in and take a 44 point team to an instant great league start & CL qualification. It’s like everyone is pretending last season didn’t happen (12th, 44 points, lost 16).

I mean, here’s an absolutely mad stat….

From match day 7 to 38 Chelsea have been the 4th best side in the Premier League.
So basically he’s been sacked because the first 6 games were a continuation of the utter shite from last season where they won just one game in six.
 
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WeePat said:
Look at it this way. Poch spent 32 out of 38 games in 10-12th place. Yeah nice vibes to end the season but is that enough to keep him if the season overall was an awful one?
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I think that's just because of how poor those first 6 games were though.
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Goes a little bit deeper than that though doesn’t it?
Since matchday 20 (half the season), you’re comfortably the 4th place team in the league, picking up just two points less than Liverpool in that time. Better still is that the form has progressed on quite a linear basis the longer Poch has been there, ultimately culminating in Chelsea ending games 30-38 with just one less point than Arsenal.

When you put that together with your impressive displays versus City, and the players claiming they love Poch, there’s no question for me that Chelsea & Poch were ending the season in extremely promising fashion.

So I for one am fecking DELIGHTED you’ve pressed the reset button.
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Since matchday 7 they have the 4th most points in the league. Yes they had ups and downs in the season and it's really only the last 8-9 games where they really looked like a good and cohesive team from top to bottom but I think people are overstating how bad he was because of how bad some of those lows were. In the context of the rest of the league though I think he did an above average job.
 
SilentWitness said:
I think that's just because of how poor those first 6 games were though.


Since matchday 7 they have the 4th most points in the league. Yes they had ups and downs in the season and it's really only the last 8-9 games where they really looked like a good and cohesive team from top to bottom but I think people are overstating how bad he was because of how bad some of those lows were. In the context of the rest of the league though I think he did an above average job.
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I still think people are bonkers for not realising what a huge job it was to rebuild a squad after losing 16 games & gaining just 44 points the previous season.

Poch’s start of one win in six appears to have fecked him, but I feel that likely would’ve happened with any manager considering where they were at that point.
 
diarm said:
Any talented young manager that takes that Chelsea job is an idiot and has idiots advising him.
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Curious to see if Chelsea will get into a similar situation as Bayern, where they have trouble finding managers of the required level due to those red flags.
 
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