Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino says he is no different from his ‘tough’ counterparts Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola, despite his ‘nice guy’ image.
Pochettino has endured a nightmarish start to his reign at Chelsea, who have fallen to 15th in the Premier League table after recording just one win, two draws and three defeats in their opening seven matches of the 2023-24 season.
The Argentinian technician had already established himself among the elite of European managers during his time at the helm of Tottenham, but he failed to win trophies in north London, with some accusing him of being too ” kind “. Arsenal and Manchester City are seen as having more ruthless men on the bench in Arteta and Guardiola, with the former living up to that reputation by dropping number one goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale in favor of rookie summer David Raya. However, Pochettino insists he is just as ‘tough’ and will not beat around the bush when it comes to making tough selection decisions.
When asked if he has a ruthless approach, the Chelsea coach does not back down, as demonstrated by his comments to the English media Football Daily: “He (Arteta) is very tough and I am very nice? I think Pep and Mikel are the same, right? You can’t be nice to people who don’t play.”
Chelsea have spent more than a billion pounds ($1.2 billion) on new players since Todd Boehly’s takeover of Stamford Bridge in 2022, and Pochettino has been given the freedom to recruit his own targets after taking over from Graham Potter at the helm of the team in June. Players like Moises Caicedo and Nicolas Jackson failed to establish themselves immediately, however, and Pochettino was also hampered by injuries to a number of key players, particularly in defence. Reece James, Benoit Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana are all currently on the sidelines.
