After what can be described as a disastrous 2022-23 campaign, Mauricio Pochettino has quite the job on his hands to turn the fortunes around at Chelsea.
The Blues’ 12th-placed finish in the Premier League was their worst since 1994, with new co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali having run through Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard in their first year in charge of the club. Now Boehly and Eghbali have turned to Pochettino, who is due to take over officially as Chelsea boss on July 1 after agreeing to a two-year contract.
The summer transfer window will be very crucial for Chelsea if they are to re-establish themselves as a force in the Premier League. But there are a lot of factors beyond the transfer window that will contribute to shaping the west London side’s squad next season. That said, here are three areas Chelsea should improve on next term to fight for a top-four finish.
1. Stability
A year on being sacked by Paris Saint-Germain there is a chance that Mauricio Pochettino has actually arrived at a club in desperate need of stability and direction.
The Argentinean faces many challenges at Chelsea. He is not a magician and needs time to clear the mess created by the new owners’ haphazard recruitment and planning. After the sacking of two managers in a season, Boehly needs to trust Pochettino to do his job and not be tempted to keep visiting the dressing room.
Pochettino’s time at Tottenham proves he is best when given time to develop his team. The Chelsea board have handed him a two-year contract, and failure to give him at least two years to rebuild the squad and exercise control will just lead to another reset.
- Trim the bloated squad
Without any transfer strategy and direction, Chelsea spent £600 million on transfers in just one year which led to the sacking of Tuchel and Potter and a forgettable 2022-23 campaign. That said, Pochettino must build a competent team in his own image from a bloated squad that needs serious trimming.
Arguably getting rid of players is far more important for the new Chelsea boss than who walks in from the front door this summer, especially after the squad size issue forced them to expand the dressing room. As many as 15 players are rumoured to be heading out of the west London club, including N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
If there is a mass exodus at Stamford Bridge, it will only help Pochettino to reshape the squad according to his needs and demands.
- Bring structure to defence
Apart from trimming the bloated squad, Pochettino and Chelsea must ensure they are prioritising the defence by building a solid foundation at the back.
Kalidou Koulibaly, Trevoh Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Ben Chilwell and Marc Cucurella were part of a defence which was a liability last season, with just 10 clean sheets in 38 games. Koulibaly endured a horrible debut season and could move back to Italy, while Silva is long past his prime and injury prone.
Injuries have taken their toll to some degree, but—other than Silva—the Blues are also lacking in the personality department. There is no one to command respect in the backline and be the young leader to pull them through games – especially when under pressure. Midfield and attacking positions also need addressing, but it will be unwise to turn the attention to those if Pochettino cannot put together a safe and secure defence that does not leak goals.
