Chelsea are said to be ‘frustrated’ by the ‘instant impact’ of managers like Ange Postecoglou and Unai Emery on their clubs compared to Mauricio Pochettino’s effect at Stamford Bridge.
Pochettino’s side have conceded four goals in two Premier League games on the bounce, to Liverpool and then Wolves, with the latter prompting some Chelsea fans to chant the names of Jose Mourinho and Roman Abramovich.
The Telegraph claim ‘that did not go unnoticed by senior figures’, but they are yet to consider replacing Pochettino before the summer.
The Argentinian is though ‘under pressure to convince co-controlling owners Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly that Chelsea are making progress under him by the end of the season, when it is currently likely his performance will be assessed’.
His job may well depend on whether Chelsea qualify for European competition, which looks increasingly unlikely through the league, with the club looking forward to the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool and the FA Cup fourth-round replay against Aston Villa on Wednesday.
Co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart have also been criticised by the Chelsea fans, but the report states it’s not clear whether their performance will be reviewed along with Pochettino’s at the end of the season.
It’s claimed there’s an understanding among the Chelsea chiefs that Pochettino’s been hampered by injuries and that there was ageneral upswing in results and performances before the defeats to Liverpool and Wolves. One source said: “It’s a couple of bad results after a positive month.”
‘But there is also a sense of frustration in some quarters that managers such as Tottenham’s Ange Postecoglou, Villa’s Unai Emery and Wolves’ Gary O’Neil made instant impacts at their clubs under difficult circumstances, while Pochettino is taking time to make his mark at Stamford Bridge.’
The club though appears to be more frustrated with the wife of Thiago Silva, Belle, who voiced her displeasure at the situation under Pochettino, writing on X: ‘It’s time to change. If you wait any longer it will be too late.’
That message has ‘left figures inside Chelsea unimpressed’ and ‘frustrated both at the fact it was posted and was not deleted’.
Pochettino last week became angry with comparisons between his tenure and that of Graham Potter, who was sacked last April.
“Last season I wasn’t here,” said Pochettino. “It’s 15 or 16 players that are different from last season, so how can you compare?
“You have plenty of [different players] starting with the two keepers that won the Champions League. Kepa [Arrizabalaga] and [Edouard] Mendy were here last season and now we have two keepers that are young and came from different clubs, one who didn’t play at Brighton and another is from MLS.
“Only you [the media] can put it into context – you cannot ask me to compare this season with last season, whether it means today we are not in the position we should be or last season they didn’t perform – the players who three years ago won the Champions League. When you build a team with 16 or 17 new players, you need to all ask yourselves to look at all the circumstances from the beginning because it is easy to say ‘oh we spent money’ or ‘we have amazing names’.”
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