‘Son-Ke combinations at Chelsea’ fall through… ‘Pochettino sacking’ leaves locker room in shock
The news of Mauricio Pochettino’s departure has sent shockwaves through the Chelsea locker room. Pochettino’s departure will end the dreams of many players of becoming one of the Premier League (PL)’s leading attacking duos under Pochettino, as Son Heung-min and Harry Kane once did. Chelsea announced the news of Pochettino’s departure through the club’s official channels on Wednesday. The club and Pochettino have terminated their contract by mutual consent. In a statement, Pochettino thanked the club’s owners and sporting directors for “giving me the opportunity to be part of the club’s history. The club is in a great position to continue its progress in the Premier League (PL) and Europe in the future,” Pochettino said in his final statement.
It’s shocking news, to say the least. Pochettino, who returned to the PL managerial ranks after leaving Tottenham Hotspur to take charge of Chelsea on July 1 last year, will leave the pitch again after less than a year in charge. It’s a scenario no one saw coming.
Even the Chelsea players didn’t realize that the final match of the 38th round of the PL in the 2023-2024 season would be their last with Pochettino. The players were reportedly shocked when they received the news of Pochettino”s departure from the club.
Not only were the players unaware of Pochettino’s decision to leave, but they even read about the mutual termination of his contract online.
“From what we understand, many of Chelsea’s players were devastated when they heard the news of Pochettino’s departure,” said the UK’s The Sun. “The players are shaken after confirming that Pochettino has left the club by mutual consent. What is surprising is that they found out about it on social media.”
Chelsea players have been sending messages to Pochettino on private social media since they learned of his departure.
According to The Sun, Nicholas Jackson wrote: “I wish we could have stayed together longer, you are a true lion and warrior,” while Moises Caicedo posted a photo of himself shaking Pochettino’s hand and wrote: “It was a pleasure. You are an amazing man and coach,” he wrote.
In addition to Jackson and Caicedo, a number of other Chelsea players took to social media to express their sadness, including Mark Cucurella, Noni Madueke, Kani Chukwuemeka and Mikhail Mourinho. However, Malan Sarri, who was trained 카지노사이트 by Pochettino in the youth team, was the only one to “like” the post announcing Pochettino’s departure.
The parting of the ways between Chelsea and Pochettino was as clean as it gets.
Matt Law, who writes for the Telegraph and is well versed in Chelsea’s inner circle, said: “Pochettino is the third manager to leave the club under Todd Boeley, but this time it was mutual. He wasn’t sacked, there were no arguments or negative feelings. There was just a handshake and an agreement to leave respectfully,” he said.
“The mutual termination of Mr. Pochettino’s contract will undoubtedly be considered the best option for both parties,” he added.
However, Pochettino’s departure disrupted Chelsea’s plans. Under Pochettino, Chelsea had a long-term plan to restore the club’s honor and become a competitive team in Europe.
To that end, the club has been investing in the future by signing young players to multi-year deals. Jackson, Kaysedo, Madueke, Chukwuemeka, Mourinho, Mourinho, Christopher Nkunkwo, and Cole Palmer are all in their early to mid-20s and were expected to be around for a long time.
The attacking options, especially Jackson, Nkunkwo, Moudrique, and Palmer, would have been hoping to step up under Pochettino, who has shown a knack 파워볼실시간 for developing young players.
Pochettino already has a track record of using young players to step up and perform during his time at Tottenham. Under Pochettino, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, Son Heung-min, and Kane formed the “DESK line” that led Spurs to a league runner-up finish and UEFA Champions League runner-up finish.
Even after Pochettino left, his legacy remained. Despite the departures of Alli and Eriksen, Son and Kane remained at Tottenham well into their 30s and became known as the ‘Son-Ke duo’, leading the Spurs attack.
Chelsea have a lot of talented players, so it’s not unreasonable to expect a second DESK line or a second Sonke duo. Palmer and N’Kunku, for example, have certainly shown their talent this season.
But that was left in the wind. Having shockingly sacked Thomas Tuchel under Todd Boeli and quickly parted ways with Graham Potter, Chelsea seemed to have a long-term plan in place with the appointment of Pochettino, only to be forced to rebuild once again when he left the club.