How it ended for Pochettino's 6 Chelsea predecessors ahead of 'must-win' game
Things were meant to be different at Chelsea after Mauricio Pochettino's appointment, but the manager's slow start in West London has left him under pressure just months after taking the reins.
Defeat at home to Aston Villa on Sunday left the Blues with just five points from their opening six league fixtures, with injuries and poor finishing hitting them hard. The struggles have left pundit and former England striker Ian Wright to consider the upcoming matches against Fulham and Burnley to be 'must-win' matches, even at this early stage of the season.
"I think it’s the next two games. If they don’t do it, you have to start worrying for Pochettino," Wright said on The Kelly and Wrighty Show with Kelly Cates. Here, Mirror Football looks at where the journey ended for the last six permanent managers to pass through Stamford Bridge.
Graham Potter
Pochettino's defeat against Villa brought Potter's farewell game into broader focus. His Chelsea team also drew a blank against Unai Emery's men, falling to a 2-0 reverse in April, with Ollie Watkins and John McGinn getting the goals.
"In both boxes we were second best," Potter said in what proved to be his final post-match comments as Blues manager. "The first goal for them is disappointing and we need to do better. There were a lot of good things in the game, a lot of attacking play, entries and a lot of shots. If you look at the stats, it was positive.
Chelsea complete record-breaking Enzo Fernandez transfer after deadline day rush
"I understand when you lose at home that people will be frustrated, disappointed and angry," he said when asked about the fans' reaction at fufll-time. "No one is happy with where we are in the league table and we have to work hard to improve that."
Will Mauricio Pochettino turn things around at Chelsea? Have your say in the comments section
Aston Villa handed Graham Potter his final defeat as Chelsea manager (PA)The following day, Potter was gone, with his team languishing in 10th. Just one win from their final 10 games under caretakers Bruno Saltor and Frank Lampard saw them drop further, and the pattern has continued under Pochettino
Thomas Tuchel
Potter was the second permanent manager given his marching orders in Todd Boehly's first season. Roughly seven months earlier, a Champions League reverse spelled the end for Champions League winning boss Thomas Tuchel.
Boehly had backed Tuchel in the transfer market, with Raheem Sterling and Wesley Fofana among the big-money summer arrivals. The German picked up 10 points from his first six league games, though performances weren't entirely convincing, and defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in Europe was all she wrote.
Mislav Orsic downed Chelsea in September 2022 (AFP via Getty Images)Mislav Orsic scored the winner at Stadion Maksimir, and Tuchel didn't mince his words after the reverse. "I am angry with myself, I am angry about the performance,’ he said.
"This is a huge under-performance from all of us. It's not precise enough, it's not clinical enough, not aggressive enough. It is not determined enough. It is not enough individually, it is not enough as a team and that is why we lose this game today."
Despite the struggles in Croatia, Tuchel's sacking still came as a surprise to the German. He has already returned to management, leading Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga title, and got the better of Premier League side Manchester United to kick off this season's Champions League campaign.
Frank Lampard
Lampard had a tricky task in his first season, with a transfer ban limiting his options. However, it was his results in the half-season after strengthening his squad which prompted former owner Roman Abramovich to pull the plug.
Former Blues midfielder Lampard oversaw more than £200m of investment in new signings in the summer 2020 window, with Kai Havertz and Timo Werner among the arrivals. When he was dismissed in January, though, his team sat ninth in the table.
Hakim Ziyech brutally denied deadline day transfer as PSG furious at Chelsea
Defeat at Leicester was the end of the road for Frank Lampard in his first spell (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)The final straw was a 2-0 defeat at Leicester, with Wilfred Ndidi and James Maddison on target to leave nine points separating the two teams. After Lampard made way for Tuchel, though, Chelsea climbed the table to pip the Foxes to fourth.
"We were beaten by the better team,’ Lampard said. "The general theme of our performance was slower, was more sluggish, was lacking confidence but also lacking a bit of desire to run. That comes down to confidence at times. When a team is confident, they look like Leicester, like we did a month ago.
"They were sharper than us, they ran more than us and they showed real moments of quality. They looked like a team in form, we looked like a team out of form."
If you were wondering, Lampard's caretaker spell in 2023 ended with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle. You can be forgiven for having already forgotten, even though it was only four months ago.
Maurizio Sarri
Unlike the men who followed him into the Stamford Bridge hotseat, Sarri bowed out with a win. His final game at the helm was the 2019 Europa League final, with the Blues getting the better of Arsenal in Baku.
Maurizio Sarri left Chelsea as a Europa League winner (Getty Images)After a goalless first half, three goals in 20 minutes from Olivier Giroud, Pedro and Eden Hazard put the Blues in charge. Alex Iwobi pulled one back for Arsenal, only for Hazard's second to settle the tie.
The former Napoli boss was able to bow out on a high despite an up-and-down league season in which he had been deemed close to the sack on more than one occasion. Sarri returned to Italy, leading Juventus to the league title in his only season, and is now in charge of Lazio.
"In talks we had following the Europa League final, Maurizio made it clear how strongly he desired to return to his native country, explaining that his reasons for wanting to return to work in Italy were significant." Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said in a statement confirming Sarri's exit. "He also believed it important to be nearer his family, and for the well-being of his elderly parents he felt he needed to live closer to them at this point.
"Maurizio leaves Chelsea with thanks from us all for the work he and his assistants did during the season he spent as our head coach, and for winning the Europa League, guiding us to another cup final and a third-place finish in the Premier League. We would also like to congratulate him on securing the role as big as any in Serie A and to wish him the best of luck for the future."
Antonio Conte
Conte, like Sarri, won his final game in charge. However, his results leading up to that point meant an FA Cup final victory couldn't save him.
Antonio Conte won the FA Cup final in 2018 but still made way (Getty Images)Chelsea won the league title under the former Italy boss in the 2016-17 - still their most recent Premier League success. The following season, though, they fell to fifth and missed out on a spot in the Champions League.
Conte splashed the cash after the title win, but many of the signings failed to make their mark. More than £150m went towards Tiemoue Bakayoko, Alvaro Morata, Danny Drinkwater and Davide Zappacosta, none of whom thrived, though Toni Rudiger was more of a success.
The Italian bowed out with a 1-0 win over Manchester United in a cup final which wasn't one for the ages, with Eden Hazard scoring the winner. A 3-0 defeat at Newcastle in his final league game was arguably more representative of the struggles towards the end of his time at the helm, though.
" Chelsea Football Club and Antonio Conte have parted company," a brief club statement began. " During Antonio’s time at the club, we won our sixth league title and eighth FA Cup. In the title winning season, the club set a then-record 30 wins in a 38-game Premier League season, as well as a club-record 13 consecutive league victories. We wish Antonio every success in his future career."
Jose Mourinho
Eventual champions Leicester downed Chelsea in December 2015 (Getty Images)Both of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea spells can be considered successes, and yet both ended less than satisfactorily. Back-to-back draws with Blackburn and Rosenborg accelerated his 2007 exit, but eight years later Leicester were the executioners.
Chelsea's title defence in 2015-16 was a nightmare from the get-go. An opening weekend draw with Swansea was overshadowed by a high-profile bust-up between manager Mourinho and doctor Eva Carneiro, and by early December the Blues were just a point north of the relegation zone going into a meeting with high-flying Leicester.
Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez ensured the game would go according to form, with Loic Remy's second-half goal not enough to rescue Chelsea. Leicester went top and Mourinho was sacked, with Guus Hiddink taking interim charge for the rest of the season.
Mourinho took the result calmly and measuredly. Just kidding, he called the performance a "disgrace" and accused his players of betrayal.
“I don’t think in this moment they can feel they are top players or they can feel they are superstars," he added. "They have to look at the Leicester boys and to feel these are the stars, these are the top players.
"They have to look to Sunderland and Watford and say: ‘We are at the same level. I am not the superstar, I am not the player of the season, I am not the world champion, I am not the Premier League champion. At this moment, I am at your level.’”
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
