Mauricio Pochettino has said his objective for his first season as Chelsea boss is “to win”, which would certainly represent a significant change from last season’s dismal campaign.
The former Spurs manager officially started work at the Blues on Monday, and faces a big task to turn around the club’s fortunes following a 12th-placed Premier League finish last season.
Speaking to the club in his first interview since being announced as Frank Lampard’s replacement, Pochettino was clear in his target for next season. “I think the objective is to win,” he said.
“Football is all about winning.”
The club have already been active in the transfer market, with several big name players moving on following a transfer spend of more than £600m over the past two windows, including Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic and Kalidou Koulibaly, with several more expected to follow including Mason Mount, who looks set to join Man Utd for £55m.
Meanwhile, attackers Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson have joined the Blues from RB Leipzig and Villarreal respectively, with the hope that they will go some way to addressing the lack of goals last season.
But what else does Pochettino need to do before the season starts to ensure the last campaign does not repeat itself? Here’s five of the biggest things…
Add more energy in midfield
Embed from Getty ImagesTop of Pochettino’s priorities this pre-season is to add to the midfield following a number of exits in that department. Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have already left the club, Denis Zakaria’s loan spell from Juventus has ended, and Mason Mount is expected to join Manchester United.
It leaves Chelsea very light on numbers in that area and in need of additions. Moises Caicedo is Chelsea’s number one target, as Nizaar Kinsella recently told the Hayters TV Podcast, and would provide some much-needed athleticism and energy in midfield alongside record signing Enzo Fernandez’s natural passing ability.
The Blues have missed Kante’s energetic presence while he has been out injured and his departure means there are big shoes to fill. Strengthening the midfield alongside Enzo with a Kante type player will be key to Pochettino having a successful first season in charge.
Improve the squad’s fitness
Interim boss Frank Lampard was damning in his assessment of his Chelsea side last season, flagging up a number of problems which he believed were the cause of the team’s terrible form.
One of the areas he identified was a lack of fitness in the squad, admitting before the Champions League second leg clash with Real Madrid that it was something that needed to be improved while also repeatedly claiming that the level of training was not high enough.
Graham Potter also cited a poor pre-season before his arrival as a reason for the squad not being in great condition. Clearly, this team needs to get fitter if things are to improve, and the positive for Pochettino is that he has an entire pre-season with his team to work on the fitness of the group.
Of all Pochettino’s challenges, this should be one of the easier ones to fix.
Put trust in the youngsters
Embed from Getty ImagesChelsea’s strategy under their new owners has largely been to snap up young talent with high potential. But, so far, there has not been a co-ordinated effort to develop these youngsters into world class players.
The likes of Mykhailo Mudryk, Carney Chukwuemeka and David Fofana struggled for game time following their arrivals at the club. There is no point in implementing a strategy of buying young if those players aren’t going to be given the game time to improve.
Pochettino has to decide which youngsters are going to be a key part of his group and ensure that they get the time on the pitch to get better as players. There is a wealth of talent at Pochettino’s disposal, and even if it means some short-term pain for long-term gain, he has to make these players the key focus of his side.
Otherwise Chelsea’s big spending will go unrewarded.
Settle on a system
Chelsea chopped and changed their setup and way of playing too often last season. From a three at the back to four, to possession football to more direct play, there was simply too many alterations for the team to gather any sort of momentum.
Much of that had to do with the persistent changes in the dugout, but Pochettino has got to have one clear idea of the way he’s going to play and stick to it. The good news for Chelsea fans is that this has always been Pochettino’s way of working.
Consistency in his team selection and instructions over a sustained period of time will go a long way to helping this group to improve.
Address the goalkeeper situation
Embed from Getty ImagesWith Edouard Mendy having moved on, Kepa looks to be the current clear first-choice goalkeeper for next season. But the Spaniard is still yet to convince in a Chelsea shirt, and continued to make mistakes last season after winning back his starting spot from Mendy, who missed much of the campaign with injury.
It will be a big show of faith from Pochettino if he decides to stick with Kepa, given he has failed to take his many chances to convince as the number one. Either a big improvement is needed, or Pochettino will need to look to the transfer market to add someone who is more dependable between the sticks.
A good goalkeeper breeds confidence among the whole team. And if Kepa continues to struggle next season, it won’t bode well for Pochettino’s hopes of bringing back winning football to Stamford Bridge.
