Why Pochettino is perfect for Chelsea right now – Talk Chelsea

Mauricio Pochettino was finally announced as the new Chelsea manager earlier this week after months of it being the worst kept secret!

And below I am going to explain why, as a passionate Chelsea fan, I am very excited by this appointment.

Graham Potter was known for his good man management, but he didn’t quite get it right. Thomas Tuchel was passionate and a motivator, but again, he didn’t quite get it right and was at the other end of the scale to Potter. With Poch, what we have is a great manager who is somewhere in the middle of Tuchel and Potter in terms of personality and character, and I believe that is exactly what we need at Chelsea right now.

Poch is HUGE on passion and work rate. He truly believes in his players working harder, putting in more effort, and having the desire to beat their opponents. We have truly lacked that with this squad. But Poch isn’t just a ‘passion merchant’ as they get called, he also knows the importance of setting up tactically well. Once again, he provides the perfect balance between a tactical manager and a motivating manager. It’s all about balance, and in Poch we have THE perfect balance.

These quotes from his book ‘Brave New World’ sums the above up perfectly. The first one below he was addressing prep for a Spurs game when they were in a bit of an up and down moment.

Poch said: “The training session after yesterday’s talk was highly productive. The lads were really focused, so we changed our minds about today’s session. Instead of doing tactical drills, which is very physically and mentally draining, we played them videos to run through some improvements, variations, and footballing concepts that we want to introduce.

I reminded them again that we’ve got to dig deeper and that it shouldn’t be necessary for the coaching team to be constantly pushing them; they need to find the winning mentality within themselves.”

Pochettino and his coaching staff literally work 12 hours every day, and he expects his players to put in a similar amount of effort to the cause.

This next quote is a fine example of where Chelsea are at right now. Obviously, he is talking about when he came in at Spurs, but if he can mirror this at Chelsea then we could really be onto something.

He said:

“Some of the (returning) internationals (from the Euros) are struggling to reach the level of the rest of the group. I’ve got to find a way to warn them that they need to do more. It’s not a physical issue, it’s about mentality.

“The rules are clear-cut – even if they’re unwritten. And we can’t go back on them. Improving attitudes and laying down the blueprint was our biggest task in our first few months at the club.

“I pitched up at Tottenham in the summer of 2014. In our first season, we reached the League Cup final and in May 2015 I signed a new five-year contract. In our second season, with the youngest squad in the Premier League, we went toe to toe with Leicester in the title race.

“It wasn’t a happy place when we arrived. We had to throw open the windows, bring in some fresh air, change the mentality. We were being asked to turn a load of dirty, wrinkled laundry into a pile of clean, neatly folded and ironed clothes, all through a new philosophy.

“Southampton, where we found hungry players who didn’t want to be relegated, the Tottenham dressing room was full of figures who at some point in their careers had been considered stars but had lost their way. And the team didn’t come first.”

My god, that is music to my ears. This literally mirrors our current squad and our current situation. This is one of the main reasons I wanted Poch, as well as his guts to show faith in young players, is because I knew he is the perfect man for this job and for this task ahead – he did it at Tottenham.

Is it going to be easy coming in at Chelsea? Heck no. Will he need to convince some players and get them to trust him? Of course he will. But again, that’s nothing new for him.

He continued:

“Some of them (Spurs players) didn’t share our ideas but tried to adapt; others rejected them from day one. A few disrespected us. And there were others from whom we couldn’t expect something they simply didn’t have in them.

Many, though, realised that they had to partake in the process in order to halt the negative spiral. That there was an urgent need for us to show leadership and strength, we could not doubt.”

Again, sounds familiar, right?

But Poch is not a total ball buster, he prefers to create relationships with his players just as he did with Harry Kane. I’m a firm believer of this, gaining a player’s respect rather than going all sergeant major on them, is a much better way to get players literally bleeding blood for you on the pitch. Again, Poch seems to have a perfect balance between the two.

He said:

“I read that Dele Alli had said of me, ‘you don’t want to get on his wrong side’. I found that funny, but we’re not policemen, and I’ve never torn into a player in front of the team. There’s no rule book. It’s about common sense. Professionalism. Letting natural selection follow its course.

“They’ve got to arrive early for training, great each other and shake hands. Respect their team mates and opponents. Before 9.45am, they have to talk to the sports scientist and tell them how they feel and how they’ve slept. What they’ve eaten and how. We have regular nutrition tests, which we know can help recuperation and performance.

“We have to cover all bases, but ultimately, how far players go is up to them. When they leave – or we leave – no one can say they weren’t given the opportunity to get better.

“We have breakfast together. That’s when the first conversations start up, helping to create the right mood to ensure training is enjoyable.

“Phones must be on silent in the canteen; they’re allowed to send messages, but they have to go outside to make calls. It’s no good players using their phones in the physiotherapy room, for example. They need to listen to their bodies and to the physio.

“There are not many more rules. The rest is in their hands. They’re adults. I’ve never punished a player for being late. I prefer to talk it over with them. Punishment is the preserve of those who cannot wield their power in other ways. That is left for those who think they are bosses. I believe in leadership. Two different things.”

This is a much better way of operating, especially with today’s players and in today’s society. This is how you get players onside and playing for you.

I remember hearing stories of the punishment fines that Frank Lampard gave out during his first spell as Chelsea manager – something that wasn’t received well by some, and we all saw how he then lost a section of the dressing room.

I’m not saying it is right what the players do and how they gain power, and that needs to be stamped out and Poch backed by the club fully, for player power to be stamped out. But if he comes in like he explains above, then he has a much better chance of getting players onside from the off and being successful at our club.

Poch is the perfect manager to work and improve players. There are players in our squad right now who can really thrive under him if they are willing to give him the chance to teach and nurture them, just as Son Heung-min did at Spurs. He struggled initially, but now look at him – he will credit a lot of his success to Poch’s influence.

But he’s not just about that, he’s also a superb tactical manager. He likes to have the ball but he likes to actually do something with it rather than just keep possession, But his footballing philosophies are varied and collective. He knows the importance of having physical and energetic players, and he likes to have defensive stability as well as be devastating in attack.

We have to back him and give him what he wants and needs now, because if we do that and have the perfect summer transfer window, we could have a very successful time under Pochettino and I could certainly see the good times returning.