Chelsea must keep Mauricio Pochettino as fit squad offer glimpse of exciting future
The uncertainty around Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea future is beginning to look ridiculous.
Pochettino remains in the dark over whether he will continue at Stamford Bridge next season, with Chelsea planning an end-of-season review that will ultimately determine his fate.
But he is quietly stringing together an impressive run of results and Chelsea must now keep him on.
Saturday’s spirited 3-2 comeback win at Nottingham Forest means the Blues are still in the hunt for Europa League qualification. Only Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool have won more points than Chelsea since Boxing Day, and only the Gunners have scored more goals in the last 13 matches.
Pochettino is showing what he can do when his players are fit and there are enough green shoots to suggest they are on the right path under him.
It has been quite some journey for Chelsea since their 5-0 defeat at Arsenal three weeks ago.
The big change has been moving Marc Cucurella into an inverted full-back role, which sees him stepping into midfield when building up.
Much of the positivity has come from results at Stamford Bridge, but the final hurdle for Pochettino was away form.
Saturday was Chelsea’s first away win in two months, but co-owner Behdad Eghbali, who will decide Pochettino’s future, will have been pleased watching on at the City Ground flanked by influential co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.
Pochettino, who continually insists under-performance this season is due to injuries, showed what he could do with a full squad.
With nine senior players on the bench for the first time this year, he brought on Reece James, Christopher Nkunku, Raheem Sterling and Malo Gusto to transform the match. Club captain James returned after five months out and, over 18 excellent minutes, was involved in both goals.
Sterling curled in the equaliser and Nicolas Jackson headed in James’s cross to secure three points. Jackson has 17 goals this season, outscoring Chelsea legend Didier Drogba in his maiden season in west London.
Like Jackson, Conor Gallagher keeps improving, and Moises Caicedo increasingly looks like a high-quality midfielder. Pochettino guided Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Heung-min Son’s careers at Spurs, and he is doing the same for Cole Palmer.
Of course, this is not to say Chelsea should celebrate a trophyless season while conceding an unwanted club-record 61 goals, but it must be factored in that this is the second-youngest squad in the Premier League and injuries have hit hard.
Pochettino is the stabilising force that Chelsea need right now
Chelsea remain in transition despite a world-record £1billion transfer spend on players, but Pochettino is the stabilising force that the club needs right now.
Chelsea are now in their highest league position since November 2022 and they have scored 34 more goals than last season, earning 13 more points with two matches left to play.
Should Chelsea beat Brighton and Bournemouth, they will qualify for Europe. Even if they do not, Pochettino has already shown enough to prove he is worth persisting with.
