Speculation in social media and traditional media has been rife in recent weeks suggesting that Chelsea might poach Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Even clinching the FA Cup tomorrow might not be enough for Antonio Conte to save his job at Stamford Bridge and to be honest I’m not fully convinced the Italian wants to stay on. He’s been in a major sulk for most of this season and has continually attacked those in his own team, whether it be players or those in the club’s hierarchy.

Some suggest that Argentinean Pochettino could be willing to listen to a Chelsea offer. It’s believed that the Spurs coach could be growing impatient by the club’s transfer policy and unwillingness to seriously compete with the big boys financially. He could feel that’s the biggest stumbling block that needs to be removed for Tottenham to finally clinch some major silverware.

But would the forty-six year old really swap North London for South London?

Obviously he’d be guaranteed a big pay day and a massive bumper war-chest to go after some world class talent in the transfer market.

He’d have a pretty strong squad already at The Bridge, they won the Premier League just last season and the majority of them probably just need re-focused for the year ahead.

They are a team that are accustomed to winning big trophies and built for that purpose. The owner clearly enjoys winning and will put his hand in his pocket if required to get the side back on top.

The drawback in having such an ambitious owner is that he can be quick to fire you if he doesn’t see instant or continued success.

Roman Abramovich has replaced a manager on eleven occasions in the last fifteen years! It doesn’t matter if you’ve bagged him a Premier League or Champions League trophy during your spell at the club, if it’s not right at that moment then he’ll pull the trigger.

Like Pochettino is now, Andre Villas-Boas was seen as a very talented coach when he arrived at Chelsea in June 2011. Yet the Portuguese boss, who would later manage Tottenham, was sacked before he saw a season out.

A huge reason for many of these sackings, apart from Roman’s trigger happy finger, has been down to the players. They’ve gone from extremely hot to excruciating cold on too many occasions. They can charge towards a league title in one year and then fail to finish in the top four the next.

The culture of continually replacing the manager at Chelsea means that they know the buck doesn’t stop with them, so if the rot sets in or they become too precious for criticism, then they simply down tools.

I doubt Pochettino will be able to change that mindset and surely he can’t believe he’ll get the time to do so.

At Tottenham, he has much more stability. The players have clearly bought into his philosophy and they’ve managed to qualify for the Champions League in the last three seasons straight. Chelsea won’t be in Europe’s most elite competition next season, which could see less high profile signings coming through the doors at the Bridge. Plus would Poch give up on that competition for a year in the hope of revitalising The Blues? That’s a big call.

Next season is a huge campaign for Spurs. They’ll be moving into the newly redeveloped White Hart Lane, which looks fantastic. I’d imagine that Pochettino and his squad will want to be part of such massive year for the club.

Much has been made of this statement that Mauricio made after his team’s final league game of the season:

“If we want to be real contenders for big, big trophies, we need to review a little,” 

“First of all, I need to speak with Daniel, then we will know what we are going to do.”

“I think it’s a moment the club needs to take risks and if possible work harder than the previous season to be competitive again.”

I think that this public plea along with the continued speculation linking the boss with other jobs, should  be seen as a demand for Spurs head honcho Daniel Levy to back his manager.

Obviously the new stadium will have cost an absolute fortune but it can’t become a thing that curtails the manager and his vision for the future.

I believe the Chelsea rumours will come to nothing this summer but that doesn’t mean that Levy shouldn’t see this as a big transfer window for Tottenham Hotspur. If he sells a top player or doesn’t give his manager the reinforcements that Mauricio Pochettino requires, then I’m not sure he’ll still be their boss next summer!

Posted on May 18th, 2018 by scott
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