The Real Reason Pochettino Decided To QUIT Chelsea

Mauricio Pochettino's turbulent first season as Chelsea manager has ended. Despite a strong finish to the season that saw The Blues get back into Europe, he has chosen to leave the club by mutual consent.

But rather than the dressing room or a bust-up with the owners, this decision was one that was entirely tactical, and has been visible on the pitch ever since he took charge. FourFourTwo's Adam Clery looks at why the club were on the right track, but it's still a decision that makes sense.

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[asmundlvgreen]

The Enzo/Conor crossroads thing is spot on

[daniels.]

The worst part — he was the Eghbali choice, he was the guy they hired after months of research and interviews. If they wanted possession so much, they had every opportunity to get Enrique, he really wanted the job. Weird stuff

[CircaA.D.]

This channel is outstanding. Just enough of the correct sort of data and fun.

[ZacharyShahan]

The smartest guy, or at least best communicator (with all the background data and analysis required), in football media.

[davidborwick]

Seems like "preferred style of football" might be the kind of thing you'd ask a manager during his job interview instead of giving him a two year contract and firing him a year later.

[caamafia]

All those stats tells us Chelsea made 6th off individual brilliance rather than a consistent play style

[ameyasaraf]

Bro, that De Zerbi flashes killed me HAHAHA

[BrianNwokedi]

Thank you for taking about Egbhali and Paul Winstanley… Boehly is the punching bag that pundits like to hit at, but the core problem is not him.

[adamfrancourt]

Adam, mate, in a vast expanse of sensationalist bile, paranoid rambling, and trendy cynicism, you are truly an oasis of comprehensible data, witty analogies and sensible takes backed by sound reasoning. Very happy I subscribed a while ago. You're one of the first names I click on for footy analysis. Keep up the great work lad!

[afclife_uk]

New owners but same Chelsea ethos. 5 managers in 20 months is mental.

[chad]

GallaDAWG was the most improved this season to me (outside of Palmer since he wasn't a Chelsea player last year). At this point, Clearlake should have just bought Brighton. Easier to just infuse Brighton with capital than try and turn Chelsea into Brighton with inflated costs since Chelsea will be forced to pay premiums.

[RefnRes]

The real issue with these stats used is that they are based on the entire season. They tell nothing about how the team developed over the course of the season. Chelseas season really was a tale of two halves. So I'm certain quite a few of these stats are bogged down by the issues of low cohesion and inexperience being more impactful in the 1st half of the season. These stats would be very different if you took them again from just the 2nd half of the season (4th in the form table) or since Chalobah returned (3rd in the form table) or since the bounceback after that Arsenal loss (2nd in the form table).

I just believe its very flawed to judge a team on the entire season without taking the season in chunks and seeing how they developed. They gave Poch mainly player for high intensity penetrative play. Of course the coach then is going to play in a way that he has the tools for.

[itsScrappyJoe]

Watching every game of Chelsea this year, knew something was terribly wrong. Thanks for putting that into words man 😊

[jivan]

It was bound to happen but sadly he didn’t get another season so disappointed

[Whatmowthelawn]

Poch did an OK job but he tried to turn a very technical good team into a team of runners and was never the right fit for the squad. He did manage to improve chelseas glass jaw that was so devestating at the beginning of the season, so credit to him for that. Its much harder to change mentally than tactics and he did that. Can go out with his head held high

[BestBoyPatrick]

I’m so so so glad to hear someone outside the Chelsea tactical bubble say this. It’s been so evident all year. This squad is just not built for poch football. It’s a squad BUILT to play possession football. Poch isn’t a possession manager. Our midfield was constantly over exposed and our defence could not stop conceding. Players like Gallagher excelled because they’re PERFECT for Poch football. I’m not saying it’ll be perfect with a possession manager, it’s still a young side that’s gelling, but we saw what this team can do with a bad fit… imagine if they actually had a manager that maximised their ability. Plus it’s another year of gelling. This team will come together in time

[earthstar]

That FA cup gag was funnier than it should've been😂

[antoniomontana]

Got yourself a new sub, the moment I saw how you present things. Very eye pleasing and easy to understand, appreciate it.

[jyd]

Brilliant Assessment and Spot on. Anybody realize they were undefeated without Enzo? To see them go forward was amazing and the results showed. Look at Cacideo. First half of the season was nothing but square & back passes to the nearest player. Then he starts going forward and was a beast. Good luck to Ponch. His agent must be extremely busy. He turned around a Trainwreck. If Burnley & Sheffield were wins instead of ties they're in CL.

[vincecosta]

Brilliant. Thank you for being a sane voice in the land of drama queen analysis and reactions.