02 October 2023 , 05:00
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Mauricio Pochettino insists he hasn’t been like a bear with a sore head at home during Chelsea's difficult start to the season.
And perhaps he might have been earlier in his career when faced with a similarly frustrating situation. But the Stamford Bridge boss reckons the same cannot be said for his wife, Karina, who has evidently been left feeling as blue as Chelsea’s home shirt following some matches.
Asked what Mrs P would say about his mood when his teams are not doing so well, the Argentinian laughed: “You need to ask me how is my wife, not ask my wife how I am. I need to calm my wife.”
So she didn’t suddenly see a different man on Thursday morning after the previous night’s Carabao Cup victory over Brighton? “Why? Because we won?", he asked. “No. Now my balance is much better than in the past, 10 years ago.
“I am more mature now. I try to keep calm. I hope my wife is happy with my behaviour now. As a coaching staff, we are more mature now. We are not affected emotionally too much as in the past. Even when we win, we are calm. And when things are not so good, we keep calm also, to try to identify the right solution for the team and for the future.”
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Pochettino played under experienced managers at club and international level, and saw first hand how such as Marcelo Bielsa and former France midfielder Luis Hernandez would seek that right solution. But even so, he knows every situation is different and insists there’s no blueprint he can look at to help him handle Chelsea’s situation.
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Mauricio Pochettino feels more emotionally stable than in his previous jobs (Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)He added: “All different managers have different books, different methods. No one is the best to apply because in football it is difficult to repeat the same situation.
“It’s not a book, to say, ‘Okay, in this situation you need to act like this or take these decisions’, it’s about your feelings, the coaching staff, what you perceive, what you feel and then you take the decision. But it is always tricky because in football if you win it was an amazing decision but if you lose you are wrong.”
One situation at another club that is proving a hot topic is Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta’s insistence that he has two No.1s in David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale, rather than a No.1 and a back-up keeper. It’s a break from tradition and although Robert Sanchez, signed from Brighton in the summer, is clearly defined as the Blues’ No.1, Poch has had to deal with a similar situation before.
He said: “When I was in Paris I had two big, top 'keepers in Gianluigi Donnarumma and Keylor Navas. So it depends. It depends on the profile and characteristics of the players, professionally and personally. What I prefer is to have the best players, players who can be compatible between them also.
“But it’s always good for every single club to have defined who is the No.1. And then it’s about how the player who is not going to play accepts being No.2. We used to play two games and two games, to play Donnarumma and then Navas. That can happen. It’s possible but it’s dangerous? Yes. Is it good? I don’t know. Is it bad? I don’t know. It depends on the result.”