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Chelsea have not improved at all since Mauricio Pochettino took over as head coach last summer, according to one expert.
The Blues booked their place in the FA Cup fourth round with a 4-0 home win over Championship Preston North End on Saturday, but they entered the new year sitting a sub-par 10th in the Premier League table.
And ESPN pundit Julien Laurens was not impressed with what he saw from Pochettino’s side against Preston, viewing the performance as a continuation of an underwhelming six months or so.
Speaking after the game, Laurens said: “Nobody can tell me this team is improving! I don’t see any improvement week after week, game after game. But how long? This is January 2024 now; he’s [Pochettino] been here since the 1st of July. I want to see something…The full-backs don’t participate in anything really. Those attacking midfielders don’t do much either.
“They never used him [Mykhailo Mudryk]; they never used his pace or his skillset and I just don’t understand where they’re going. I don’t see patterns of play; I don’t see finding the third man; I don’t see anyone running into space. I don’t see much really…”
Chelsea had already sacked one head coach, Thomas Tuchel, by this time last season – which they ended with Frank Lampard in caretaker charge after also dismissing Graham Potter.
The Blues’ hierarchy seem to have more patience with Pochettino, perhaps accepting that the club is in an inevitable state of transition given the masses of players they’ve signed over the past 18 months.
But that patience won’t last forever, and Chelsea – who have won just eight out of 20 league games this term – cannot continue to stagnate without consequence for the man in the dugout.
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