LONDON – Chelsea football club officially announced Mauricio Pochettino as their new coach.
The Argentine will take his position starting 1st July, and will lead his squad in their pre-season training in the United States from 19th July.
The English Premier League club signed a two-year contract with him.
The Blue Lions hope that the 51-year-old South American will bring them to recover from their depression in the season 2022/23.
Mission: Return to the top 4
Chelsea set a mission for Pochettino to bring the five times Premier League winner to at least return to top four in the season 2023/24.
The Blue London suffered a disappointing season, and could only finish in 12th place in the Premier League standings, 27 points behind number four’s Newcastle and 89 points away from the champion Manchester City.
The Lions had been through a struggling and challenging time. After changing their owner from Russian Roman Abramovic to American Todd Boehly, the club’s management, and strategy seemed in chaos.
Boehly sacked meritorious manager Thomas Tuchel in the early season and replaced by Graham Potter who signed from Brighton last September.
However, with poor performance in the EPL matches, the Englishman was dismissed from his job this April. Chelsea then hired Frank Lampard to return to Stamford Bridge as a head coach for the second time.
After another miserable experience in the last two months, the London club decided to find a notable manager to take charge of the squad.
Revive of the Blue Lions?
Pochettino is widely agreed as the suitable person to manage Chelsea and bring them back to the track.
The former head coach of Tottenham Hotspurs football club has led the Spurs to a historical height, finishing the Premier League season 2016/17 as runner-up, and marching into the UEFA Champions League season 2018/19 final.
Club fans expect that the Argentine’s experience in the EPL matches would lead the Blue Lions to reclaim their position in top four, or even rebuild their era.
The former manager of Paris Saint-Germain also led the French giant to win Coupe de France in 2021, and the Ligue 1 title in season 2021/22.
Spend money wisely?
Chelsea football club spent a total of 620 million Euros this season, apparently wasted referring to their Premier League standings.
There is no doubt that they have some talented or top class players, including Enzo Fernandez, who signed from Benfica with 121 million Euros, the highest record in EPL history.
Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, N”Golo Kante, Reece James, Mykhailo Mudryk and Conor Callagher are among other stars who will be featured by Pochettino in his new line-up.
The resource and wealth could give the new boss plenty of choice to build his first eleven and best formation, but also facing an issue to dismiss some unnecessary players as the current team is oversized.
Chelsea Fixtures: Wrexham and Dortmund
As the EPL matches take a break, Chelsea will participate in friendlies and exhibition matches before the next season starts.
They will play against Wrexham in the Florida Cup on 19th July in the United States, which will be Pochettino’s debut.
He will then lead the Blue Lions to meet Borussia Dortmund on 2nd August at Chicago.
The English Premier League season 2023/24 will start on 12th August.