Chelsea appoints Mauricio Pochettino as the new head coach

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Mauricio Pochettino returns to the English Premier League

Ahead of the 2023-24 Premier League season, Chelsea has confirmed the appointment of former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino as the new head coach of the Blues.

After starting his managerial career with Espanyol and saving them from relegation, Pochettino moved to England to become the head coach of Southampton and led the Saints to their highest points tally in the EPL in his first full season.

The Argentine head coach made a name for himself as an elite head coach in London during his five-year stay between 2014 and 2019 with Tottenham as Pochettino led the Lilywhites to a UEFA Champions League final and a second-place finish in the league as well.

Since then, the 51-year old has coached Paris St. Germain and led them to a UEFA Champions League semi-final where they lost to Manchester City followed by winning the Ligue 1 title in the 2021-22 season.

Chelsea co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley praised their new head coach and gave a few reasons behind hiring the Argentine in a joint statement.

The statement read,

“Mauricio’s experience, standards of excellence, leadership qualities and character will serve Chelsea Football Club well as we move forward. He is a winning coach, who has worked at the highest levels, in multiple leagues and languages. His ethos, tactical approach and commitment to development all made him the exceptional candidate.”

The London-based club endured a horrid first season under the new ownership as Chelsea finished in the lower half of the PL standings for the first time in 27 years. 

The Blues started the season with Thomas Tuchel in charge and then sacked the German head coach to bring in Graham Potter but got rid of the Englishman as well after elimination from the UEFA Champions League. Club legend Frank Lampard took the reins of the club in the last few weeks and could only lead them to a solitary win as Chelsea finished below cross-town rivals Fulham and Crystal Palace.

With the Blues’ fans hoping for a turnaround and Pochettino returning to a managerial job after a long sabbatical, the Argentine’s first job at the club would be to trim a bloated squad along with signing a proper No.9 who could score some much-needed goals for the club in the upcoming seasons.

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