26 February 2024 , 18:00
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Mauricio Pochettino is facing what could prove to be a make-or-break showdown over his long term Chelsea future.
Chelsea face in-form Leeds in the FA Cup on Wednesday night with Pochettino knowing the fifth-round tie could play a pivotal role in deciding his destiny at Stamford Bridge. Pochettino is not believed to be in immediate danger but the club hierarchy are likely to judge the Chelsea boss on whether he can win silverware and, more importantly, get them into Europe next season.
Chelsea owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are determined to give Pochettino every chance to succeed at Stamford Bridge. But the Carabao Cup defeat to Liverpool at Wembley was a major setback for Pochettino who said from day one that he wanted and needed to succeed immediately and Chelsea have never been a club to accept a period of transition.
They are still determined to build for the long term, sign players for the future and overhaul their recruitment processes to deliver a squad which can challenge for the biggest trophies. But they are stuck in mid-table, they lost a glorious chance to win silverware and get into Europe and now the FA Cup does represent a chance to salvage the season on both fronts.
Pochettino has been showing progress in recent weeks with performances and results, most notably at Manchester City ten days ago. But the Liverpool game exposed a lack of a winning mentality which even Pochettino admitted led to them playing for penalties in extra time.
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That comment is unlikely to have gone down well bearing in mind they were playing an injury-hit Liverpool filled with kids at the end and, despite Chelsea’s outlay, they still could not win. Pochettino wants to see the job through, is well liked by the players but ultimately will be judged on whether he can make progress this season.
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Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are keen to back Pochettino but he must start delivering results (Chelsea FC via Getty Images)That will not hang solely on the FA Cup but will play a major part and crucially comes just 72 hours after they lost the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
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