What Will Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea Look Like?
Mauricio Pochettino has finally been confirmed as Chelsea's new manager, but what will his team look like? From potentially poaching Harry Kane and Declan Rice, to reviving the careers of Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic, it could be a one hell of a force next season.
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00:00 Hi there everybody, Adam Cleary from 442 here and it's finally happened after months of
00:07 them flirting back and forward in the press, Maurizio Pochettino is Chelsea's new head
00:12 coach.
00:13 Now, if you are a Tottenham Hotspur fan, this one must absolutely suck, like seeing your
00:18 exes now going out with someone you really can't stand at a time when you were going
00:22 through several high profile, very public rejections all over Tinder, but if you're
00:26 a Chelsea fan, it's dead exciting.
00:28 And the reason it's exciting is because the last time Pochettino was in the Premier League,
00:32 he built this, his Tottenham Hotspur team that were really, really good and they were
00:36 really, really exciting and they did well in the league and they did well in Europe
00:39 and they had loads of great matches and admittedly, no, they didn't win anything, but that wasn't
00:44 the point.
00:45 The point is that he built a team with a togetherness, with a philosophy, with a really clearly defined
00:50 way of playing and if you can do that at Chelsea, well, that's going to be a really, really
00:55 big problem for, let me think, literally every other team in Europe.
00:59 But what is that going to look like?
01:01 Well, I've had some thoughts.
01:03 All right, so just really quickly before we begin, welcome to 442, the YouTube channel
01:09 where we do this kind of thing all the time.
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01:12 The season is ending, yes, but we are just getting started.
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01:20 Okay, so as I said at the start, this is Pochettino's Tottenham Hotspur team when they were at their
01:24 very best and I know what you're thinking.
01:26 This was what, five, six, seven, eight years ago?
01:28 Is it really that relevant, Adam, to what he's going to do at Chelsea?
01:32 And yes, it is.
01:33 And just to be clear, I do not think Richie Pochettino is going to build a Chelsea, effectively
01:38 a Tottenham Hotspur cover band where he tries to do the exact same things and get similar
01:42 types of players.
01:43 It'll not be like that at all.
01:45 He's too good a manager.
01:46 He's moved on.
01:47 Football's moved on.
01:48 But there are things about this Tottenham team which speak to his beliefs as a manager,
01:53 to his philosophies for playing the game, and I think they will still be consistent
01:57 even if he implements them differently.
01:59 But really, really, really, really quickly, this is how his Tottenham team liked to play.
02:02 Now, they would normally be set up in this 4-2-3-1, right?
02:06 Not all the time, obviously, but we'll talk about that in a second.
02:08 And what they had going on was two centre-backs who were really comfortable on the ball and
02:12 bringing it out of defence.
02:13 You had two full-backs who were really happy getting all the way up the other end of the
02:17 pitch and providing the width.
02:18 And you had this attacking quartet of Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, Hjörm Minson and Harry
02:22 Kane, all of which had a very specific, very different job.
02:25 With the width coming from the full-backs, this basically allowed Son and Dele to get
02:28 really narrow in the centre of the pitch with Kane, and they would basically form this triangle
02:32 where each of them would take it in turns to make runs or to drop deep to allow the
02:35 other two to try and find a bit of space.
02:37 And the three of them all scored more than 20 goals in one season.
02:42 That's how effective as an attacking triad they were.
02:44 And with those three doing that, that then meant that Eriksen would drop much deeper
02:47 than the three of them.
02:48 He would either go into the middle of the pitch to help create overloads in the build-up.
02:51 He would even be happy taking the ball off the centre-backs to advance it up the pitch.
02:55 Or in the attacking phase, with the full-backs getting all the way up to provide the width,
02:59 he would then go out to play with those to allow overloads and to get them in and basically
03:03 cross the ball from deep areas.
03:04 Case in point here is them doing that exact thing to Chelsea twice in one match.
03:08 Eriksen receives the ball in a deep area and gets it to Walker, who is providing all the
03:12 width on the right-hand side, who is already a good 10 yards ahead of him.
03:15 Walker then drives a Chelsea defender, pushes them all the way back.
03:17 And while you might reasonably expect Eriksen to keep right up with them or to get on the
03:21 overlap or something like that, instead he just sits in the space that is being vacated
03:25 by Chelsea pushing back to receive the ball for a cross.
03:28 It duly arrives, he puts the ball in, and because Dele Alli has pushed all the way up
03:32 with Harry Kane, they have Asper Laqueda outnumbered in the middle, 1-0.
03:36 Second half, exact same thing again.
03:37 Christian Eriksen has the ball, he gives it to Walker, who's providing all the width on
03:40 the right-hand side.
03:41 And because the Chelsea defenders are then forced to concentrate on Walker, this leaves
03:45 a little bit of space for Eriksen.
03:46 The ball comes back, he puts the cross in.
03:48 There's Dele Alli again, 2-0.
03:51 So what can we learn from that?
03:52 Well, first and foremost, Pochettino likes his width to come from his full-backs.
03:56 And if you are the incoming Chelsea manager, that's good news because you've got Ben Chilwell
04:00 and you've got Rhys James.
04:01 And when they are fit, they are excellent at doing that.
04:04 And secondly, if he's attacking players, he wants direct goal threat from some and great
04:08 creativity from others.
04:10 And that is less good news.
04:11 And while they've certainly got no shortage of players who can play in these attacking
04:14 positions and get nice and narrow, arrive late in the box, basically pretend they are
04:19 a striker in their own right, you'd struggle to say any of them have had particularly good
04:24 seasons.
04:25 I mean, just off the top of my head, Raheem Sterling, Christian Pulisic, Hakem Ziyech,
04:29 Mudrik, Manduike, I'm probably forgetting five or six others.
04:33 They've got loads of players who want to be doing that role.
04:36 That's what they want to be doing when they're on a football pitch.
04:38 But the problem is, you've got to deliver 15, 20 goals while you're doing it.
04:43 And that's quite a big job for Pochettino.
04:45 Select from your enormous pool of attacking players which ones you want to do this job
04:49 and then make them better.
04:51 Because you can't just keep buying players.
04:54 You have to work with the ones you've got.
04:55 And also, the one player they definitely, definitely do not have is this central figure,
05:00 this number nine, this guy who's going to be the focal point of all of your attacks.
05:04 He has to be a lethal finisher.
05:05 He has to be good on the ball.
05:06 He has to be able to drop wide and deep to get involved with the play and create space
05:10 for his others.
05:11 I just can't think off the top of my head of any player who could do that role and might
05:16 be available soon or even have a good relationship with the manager already that Chelsea could
05:21 afford that would probably prefer to stay in the Premier League.
05:24 Now I'm just, I'm just drawing a blank.
05:26 Oh, one more thing before I move on, by the way.
05:28 I'm very surprised to see all the reports that Chelsea might be willing to let Mason
05:31 Mount go when he is very clearly going to be a Pochettino type of player.
05:35 He's not Christian Eriksen.
05:36 He doesn't do what Christian Eriksen does.
05:37 But given the options they've got in their squad already, you would probably imagine
05:41 he does that Eriksen role until someone else comes in.
05:43 He plays in one of the wide attacking areas.
05:45 He drops deep to get involved in the midfield.
05:47 He provides overloads.
05:48 He does the little things and the unspectacular things that will allow the other attacking
05:52 players to flourish.
05:53 He would literally be number one for me.
05:55 Keep him in.
05:56 All right.
05:57 So this is my second point and it is by far the most interesting.
05:59 So this is how we were used to seeing Tottenham set up most of the time.
06:03 There's four, two, three, one.
06:04 One thing that Pochettino really believes in is tactical flexibility.
06:09 Is having a plan B that players can seamlessly swap between.
06:13 And for Tottenham, that plan B was as follows.
06:15 They would go from four at the back to three at the back with wingbacks, two central midfielders
06:21 and again, a really, really narrow front three.
06:24 And the reason Pochettino really liked this was it didn't necessitate a change in personnel
06:28 to play this different system.
06:29 He didn't have to field a different eleven.
06:31 Son and Dele Alli were both really comfortable playing that centrally and that close to Kane
06:35 anyway.
06:36 All the width was already coming from Kyle Walker and Danny Rose in the fullback areas.
06:39 Christian Eriksen was more than used to dropping into the middle to play a little bit deeper.
06:43 And Eric Dier, the man who basically made this change, is a centre back by trade and
06:47 also very good in the middle.
06:48 So you just drop him in there and everything kind of fits around it.
06:51 And sometimes they would start with this eleven if the situation demanded it.
06:55 Sometimes they would change to it as the game progressed.
06:56 Sometimes they would go into it and then go back.
06:58 It was one of their greatest strengths was how flexible they could be between the four
07:02 at the back and the three at the back.
07:04 And the reason they were able to do that was Eric Dier.
07:06 Don't get me wrong, Victor Wanyama would also play and then when they tried to do that
07:09 with him and the team, he would sit more as a midfield anchor.
07:12 And you could argue that's kind of what Dier was doing anyway, but largely it was kind
07:15 of the same.
07:16 They had a player in central midfield who, if needs be, could drop much deeper.
07:20 And that is one thing Chelsea currently do not have.
07:23 They haven't even got an awkward fit for that.
07:26 Enzo Fernandez is probably one of their best ball winners, but you would not want to put
07:29 him there.
07:30 And Golo Kante, exactly the same.
07:31 They have nobody who really fills that role and gives them that tactical flexibility.
07:36 And again, you know, just if only there was a player who could play in midfield, yes,
07:40 and was good on the ball and really strong in the tackle, had the intelligence to recognise
07:44 problems appearing, but also the technical ability to play his way out of them, but was
07:47 also equally comfortable in central defence or just like right in front of it and could
07:51 use his on the ball ability to bring it out of that area if needs be.
07:54 Someone young who could build a team around, who again might well be available this summer
07:59 and I don't know, maybe has some kind of ties or connection to the club.
08:02 I just, I don't know.
08:04 So what will Chelsea look like under Mauricio Pochettino?
08:07 Let's review.
08:08 Think if a really good goalkeeper becomes available, they might make a move for him,
08:10 but right now Kepa's a perfectly good option.
08:12 So I'd expect to see him still starting.
08:14 Rhys James and Ben Chilwell, if fit, are absolutely perfect, high intensity attacking full backs
08:19 for Pochettino.
08:20 So they will start every single game they're available.
08:22 Now, while Pochettino does have a preference for youthful intensity over experience, Thiago
08:27 Silva's simply too important to this Chelsea side to just jettison immediately.
08:30 So I would imagine he retains his place, although likely shares it with Koulibaly and Fafana
08:34 becomes an integral part of that back line.
08:37 In midfield, Enzo Fernandes is just that perfect blend of like intensity, intelligence and
08:41 technical ability.
08:42 Yeah, basically Kurt Angle.
08:44 So he'll retain his place and a new transfer likely to be alongside him.
08:48 Let's call him for now, I don't know, Reckland Dice.
08:51 It's anybody's guess who the attacking players wind up being, but for me personally, I think
08:54 Mount's a perfect player for Pochettino.
08:56 I think they will at least make an effort to retain him.
08:58 And if they do, he'll sort of play in that non attacking, attacking role.
09:01 And out of all the rest, probably Sterling and Mandueka.
09:04 You get a lot of options there.
09:05 But again, I do think Pochettino could get on the training pitch and one of those other
09:09 players, Zietchis, Pulisicis, etc.
09:12 They could really develop.
09:13 They could become an important part of that squad.
09:16 But we'll have to wait and see.
09:17 And up top, yeah, I do secretly think they might go and get Harry Kane, but Romelu Lukaku
09:23 might well be coming back to Chelsea.
09:26 And he's not ideal at all.
09:28 He's not going to do exactly what Pochettino wants to do.
09:30 But right now, he's better than any other option they have.
09:33 And if they can't get the money they want for him, it wouldn't surprise me at all to
09:37 just see him have a year up there until they can get somebody they like.
09:40 Or a brand new centre forward who again, I'll make up a completely random name for him.
09:46 Carey Hayne.
09:47 Oh, and one final point, Levi Caldwell on loan at Brighton.
09:50 Pochettino will love that kid.
09:52 He will 100% be back and you will see him in this team quite a lot, I think.
09:56 But I mean, this is admittedly pure speculation on my point.
09:59 Just trying to use my brain to tell you what I think.
10:02 If you are a Chelsea fan or even if you're not, let me know the kind of players you think
10:04 Pochettino is going to retain.
10:06 Who is almost certainly on their way out of the door.
10:09 I'd like to hear that as well.
10:10 All good stuff in the comments below.
10:11 That is it for now, though.
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10:22 But until next time, I have of course been Adam Cleary.
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10:26 This has been 442, I'll see you soon, bye!