Former Paris Saint-Germain manager Mauricio Pochettino is set to return to the sidelines as he will take over the coaching job at Chelsea for the 2023-24 season. After his sacking last summer, the Argentine has sat out this 2022-23 season.
Nonetheless, at Chelsea, Pochettino will face the same demand that he did at PSG: To win trophies. Sky Sports’ Paul Gilmour discussed Pochettino’s experience at PSG and believes managing elite players in Paris will help him with Chelsea’s expensive squad.
“People jump on the fact I didn’t win the league in his first season with PSG,” Gilmour said. “I don’t really kind of get sucked in by all of that because I think there’s a lot of things to get used to at a club like PSG. There is a lot of internal politics, and I guess that could be part of the argument. People will say, well, look at Chelsea. You have to come in and deal with all of that at Chelsea.
“I think the difference at Chelsea is that [they] have ownership at Stanford Bridge, and, you know, have a football set up there that is willing to really work with Pochettino and his coaching staff … And they discuss every move before taking it on. And they work it through and work out the advantages and the disadvantages.
“And I think everybody’s getting quite excited between Pochettino and his staff and also those at Chelsea. Are they getting excited that this could be a project that works … But certainly, I think he will be better for the PSG experience because it’s only more experience; it’s more of dealing with that kind of elite player.”
Pochettino returns to the Premier League, where he’s comfortable managing, with stints at Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur. However, those coaching stints don’t have the pressure of having spent a significant sum on transfers.
Chelsea won’t wait for Pochettino to figure the situation out. The London-based club will demand he wins trophies right off the bat considering new owner Todd Boehly has let go of Thomas Tuchel and sacked Graham Potter even after giving him a five-year contract worth over £50 million.
