Under-fire Pochettino hints he could choose to QUIT Chelsea despite Boehly praise and ‘it won’t be end of the world’
MAURICIO POCHETTINO hinted he could choose to QUIT Chelsea at the end of the season and it “won’t be the end of the world”.
The Blues manager cryptically admitted “maybe we are not happy” as he stressed his future is not just up to the owners.
Pochettino has been under intense pressure at Stamford Bridge after a largely underwhelming debut season.
The former Spurs boss, who has 12 months remaining on his contract, struggled to get fans on side with the Blues spending much of the campaign in mid-table.
But a recent upturn in form, sparked by Cole Palmer’s goalscoring heroics, has seen Chelsea shoot into the race for European football.
And co-owner Todd Boehly appeared to suggest Pochettino’s job is safe, as he praised the Argentine’s “beautiful football” ahead of the club’s trip to Nottingham Forest this weekend.
However, Pochettino, 52, revealed his future is still very much up in the air.
He said: “The most important thing is to keep going, working if we are all happy, not only the owners happy with us, or us,
“With all the organisation the club is building here, because of them, we are all under assessment.
“If we are happy, perfect. But it is not only if the owners are happy or the sporting directors are happy.
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“If we are happy, you need to ask us, also, because maybe we are not happy and we accept the situation and we need to split.
“It is not going to be the first time the coaching staff at the end of the season decide to not keep going.
“But at this end, it is always the opposite way, it is always the owners or the sporting directors.
“They can say tomorrow, maybe I can say, ‘I want to leave’. It is two parties making a decision. Because Chelsea is not happy, the owners or the sporting directors.
“Maybe we are not happy because we arrive here with a job to do and in the end it has not happened as we expected.
“I am not saying I am not happy, but it is always one side and maybe [we need to look at the] other side.”
Pochettino did stress that he is already planning ahead for next season despite hinting at his exit.
He added: “The way we work is to sit with the sporting directors.
“We are already planning the pre-season tour, to start the pre-season here.
“We have had some meetings and we are working with the responsibility to organise the next season and of course, working in the future.”
How Pochettino can solve Chelsea’s midfield crisis thanks to the works of a 13th century poet
By Andy Dillon
IT IS HIGHLY unlikely that Mauricio Pochettino is familiar with the work of Rumi.
Whether the renowned Islamic poet and mystic had the tactical dilemmas facing Chelsea’s head coach in mind while dreaming up his scholarly works in 13th century Afghanistan, we will never know.
It’s fair to say Rumi was not a regular in The Shed at Stamford Bridge.
Yet one of his most famous quotations strikes right at the heart of Pochettino’s problems trying to transform his team into consistent challengers at the top end of the Premier League.
It was Rumi who wrote so prophetically: “Two birds tied together. They will not be able to fly even though they have four wings.”
He could have scribbled that on the back of his programme from so many of Chelsea’s games this season with regard to Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez.
There is a feeling among regular Chelsea watchers that while it is a blow on a personal level for Fernandez to be ruled out for the rest of the season with his injury problem, it may yet turn to Pochettino’s advantage.
For it allows Caicedo to roam that patch in front of his defence with greater freedom. Both players are exceptional individual talents.
Read Andy Dillon’s take on Chelsea’s midfield in full.
Or check out all of Andy Dillon’s articles.
Boehly’s recent praise of Pochettino saw him say: “We’ve seen the last two and a half games, at least in the second half at Villa (2-2) and Tottenham and West Ham where we played just beautiful football.
“It was so fluid, it was exactly the way we drew it up, when we came out of the back, built up and moved up the pitch.
“It was very organised and the number of shots we had on board. In those games you could really start to see what we were working on coming together.
If we are happy, you need to ask us, also, because maybe we are not happy and we accept the situation and we need to split.
Mauricio Pochettino
“Even the commentary has changed over the last two and a half games. I’ve never seen anything change so quickly.”
In a boost for Pochettino, captain Reece James is back in contention to play a role before the season ends.
The defender was involved in first-team training this week, with Pochettino saying: “We need today to see but maybe he can be available.”