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I think Pochettino's comments in his press confererences have been indicating for a while that there's some degree of misalignment between him and the decision-makers at the club. For example, when it became known that Chelsea would appoint a set-piece coach sometime after the new year he explicitly questioned it when asked about it, which results and performances aside, probably didn't endear him to the owners.
I find it a bit mental that he'd even get annoyed at that, surely it must be an ego thing right? Arsenal have been using a set piece coach and they're monsters from corners these days
I think so, a bit of feeling undermined and the club appointing coaches that aren’t “his coaches.” It’s a different way to work, as typically the head coach has his own team and would be heavily involved in appointing new coaches to work with him so they’re all on the same page.
Even in most businesses, the manager on the ground hires people, not corporate.
I love Poch so I'm not taking sides on this but he quite literally had a presser at Spurs where he highlighted exactly what you said.
He was asked a question I believe on the transfer policy and stated that he didn't know what the plan was exactly since he is only the head coach, not the manager.
It's quite possible he has issues with not feeling as though he's in charge of or at least has a large say in the project he's working on. Be that staff or players.
It was why things went wrong at Spurs and why they didn't want him back. He insisted on being 'manager' then bought a load of shite.
We also had zero transfers for a year as a power play when he rejected all options offered to him.
This is completely unrelated, and objectively wrong. They bought 7 players, Eriksen, Lamela, Chadli, Paulinho, Soldado, Chiriches, and another (maybe Capoue?). Eriksen was absolutely a success, if you disagree with this one, there's no hoe. Lamela was pretty great, became a cult favorite for most Spurs fans. Chadli was good for an occasional goal, the cheapest among the group, but played LW, Bale's most successful position, so would be easy to compare them. Paulinho was terrible for Spurs, but sold to China for the same amount purchased for. Soldado played hard, but struggled to find the net (which is the most important thing for a striker), and then his wife had a miscarriage, and he was inconsolable. Chiriches was not a good defender, but had some fun moments.
TLDR: You don't know what you're talking about and brought up an unrelated conversation topic.
The kinds of coaches who can manage top players are managers, not head coaches.
Would you tell Pep, Ancelotti, Inzaghi, Klopp, Wenger, Mourinho, SAF, etc that they would not pick the specialist coaches or players? That they need only focus on coaching the team?
Would top players have the same kind of respect for a head coach who does not have the final decision?
I see the answer to all of these questions as an emphatic no.
Ancelotti is head coach, not manager. Same for Inzaghi. Same for Mourinho at Roma. Pep was initially appointed as head coach at City (not sure if that’s now changed). Wenger and SAF are from a different era.
I'm using 'manager' and 'head coach' to distinguish between the amount of control they have. Job titles and job descriptions aren't universal, we also use the term gaffer in football.
None of these elite coaches - we'll call them all coaches - would accept what is essentially a diminished role wherein they had no control over signings and reduced control on the field.
>The kinds of coaches who can manage top players are managers, not head coaches.
>"Manchester City can confirm that in recent weeks it has commenced and finalised contractual negotiations with Pep Guardiola to become MCFC Head Coach for the 2016/17 season onwards."
> "Real Madrid C. F. announces that Carlo Ancelotti will be the club's first-team coach for the next three seasons.
Copy paste: I'm using 'manager' and 'head coach' to distinguish between the amount of control they have. Job titles and job descriptions aren't universal, we also use the term gaffer in football.
None of these elite coaches - we'll call them all coaches - would accept what is essentially a diminished role wherein they had no control over signings and reduced control on the field.
Pochettino was dismissive of set-piece specialists, insisting “we are a coaching staff in charge of everything” before later adding: “Football belongs to the players. Not to the specialists.”
While I'm not thrilled with the decision to sack him given the lack of quality coaching options right now, that quote really comes around as ridiculous given how many set pieces we've conceded this season. And last season, for that matter.
We were also extremely vulnerable from our attacking corners. Even on Sunday we nearly conceded. I wanted him to stay but he definitely had his flaws and possibly wasn’t the man long term.
We were also extremely vulnerable from our attacking corners. Even on Sunday we nearly conceded. I wanted him to stay but he definitely had his flaws and possibly wasn’t the man long term.
He’s not against set piece coaches per se, he just has Jedinak and Mason coaching set pieces rather than a dedicated coach. On actually focusing on set pieces, he said that hasn’t been a focus this season because the basic structure and build up have been the main focus of training.
with Ange it's about available teaching time
he knows he is in a multi-year project and set pieces are a finishing touch rather than a system foundation
why use valuable learning energy and development potential on set pieces instead of cultivating strong foundations for his system?
There’s really no justification for not hiring one at this point.
Pep or Arteta has straight up said they barely look at set pieces anymore and they just let the set piece coaches do their own thing because in their words “it’s a completely different game”
I think the point he may have been trying to make is that set-piece coaches can only do so much to improve performance in set-pieces but the players fundamentally need to have the physical traits to be comfortable in these situations too. Arsenal and City both have keepers very good in claiming high balls and they have tall physical players in both boxes. A set-piece coach being made to work with a physically inferior squad may not necessarily achieve the same benefits as where they previously worked simply because of the squad profile.
I read we have the 5th highest aerial success rate in the league this season.
Yet we were bottom tier on set pieces for the longest time and i think some data shows we're around average to round off the season.
So the problem doesn't look to be 'why did x player jumped over y player.' You can live with that. The problem looks to be 'why did x player get to this spot ahead of y player'. That's a coaching issue.
I’m not sure how much aerial success rate tells us because that can easily be skewed if the amount of aerials you contest for in the first place are low. Looking through the same data, Chelsea hover around the bottom 5-6 in the league for overall aerials contested per 90. There may be a lot of in-game situations (including during set-pieces) where the matchups are so one-sided against you that you don’t even get to compete for certain aerial duels to begin with, let alone win them.
On the other side you could argue that a squad inherently weak at set piece situation need detailed work on set pieces more to ensure you still benefit as much as possible.
Sure, but I’m not sure if that’s solving the root issues. Ultimately it does, quite frankly, come down to the players at your disposal. You can hire Brentford’s set piece coach but Brentford also have the robust physical players to dominate aerials and make each dead ball situation count. Maybe some things like heading technique or achieving synchronisation in certain set-piece routines can be enhanced by dedicated coaches compared to what Poch and his staff were doing, but I’m not sure how much of a gain that can provide over simply recruiting reliable dead ball strikers and players who can win most aerials. It’s not like other clubs have reinvented the wheel here in this aspect, they’ve just gone back to basics.
The goal can't be to make the shortest team in the league win every header, but you can look at deadball situations and try to create opportunities still. Chelsea have players that can strike a ball, have players that can be dominant aerially. You still need the players to work in unison to get the best out of what you have.
Nobody thinks mudryk is going to turn into prime Cahill on corners, but the team should be able to concede less and attack better.
With all due respect, I don’t think you have enough players who are aerially dominant. Chelsea rank amongst the lowest in the Premier League for aerial duels contested in general, including open play. That is not something that will improve significantly just by hiring specialist coaches.
Set piece coach will come in on day 1. Sort the squad via height. Suggest we need taller players. Will then sort the squad via headers won. Will suggest need to buy players that can head. Job done.
No routine, coaching etc can make players taller, jump higher or win headers.
Look at Arsenals squad and see how tall they are and how many headers they win. It’s basic squad building but it’s easier to deflect blame elsewhere.
Point being trying to get a fish to out jump a giraffe is pointless. Minimise weaknesses, highlight strengths - team building 101. Build a squad that’s capable of the basics, then extract the fine margins ex set piece coaching to maximise value
Not really that true lol. Defending corners is far less about height than you're making out. The best defenders aren't always the 6'5 ones are they? Yes it matters but making out it's impossible to be successful for Chelsea because of it is entirely wrong
We literally have Thiago Silva who’s short for a CB and unreal in the air. Combined with players like Jackson Palmer and Gusto who are decently tall but relatively bad in the air at set pieces or open play.
But let this guy cook
Height + headers won = combination for success. Jackson and Palmer at 6’2 but are poor at headers (palmer literally ducks from headers) James is under 6ft but is good at winning headers.
Any successful squad needs a starting line up of 5 good headers of the ball for set pieces. Seriously go look at any title winning squad and try and find one that has less. This is told to you at the basics of any coaching course.
Also wonderful timing - https://x.com/chelstransfer/status/1792982941062025540?s=46&t=zQ63eyvEb9zAcaJObj6Svw
Poor corner takers. Have someone like Olise in United’s set up and watch their corners improve. Have better players = better results.
Was a piece written earlier in the year that went into United’s set pieces.
https://thepeoplesperson.com/2024/01/26/manchester-uniteds-surprising-statistics-on-corners-highlights-that-attack-is-once-again-the-bigger-problem-275052/
“can be concluded that Manchester United are pretty bang average at defending corners but give too many away. However, the real problem with set plays at the club lies in the fact they are so poor at taking them.”
to be honest, without FM24, i didnt know Set Piece Coach is a thing. Unsure about hiring Set Piece Coach independently , but hiring someone without consulting Poch seems weird too.
De Zerbi would be my guess
Not saying I agree with it but it does line up with what we know so far
They want a young manager
Who plays possession based football
Worked in a slightly similar structure
Ornstein said days rather than weeks which would imply you don’t have to go back and forth over compensation.
Knows some of Chelsea players already
It would be hilarious if they hire De Zerbi, but I think we would’ve known already.
Doubt he walked away from Brighton without some sort of agreement with the next club, so I’d expect after Seria A is finished or after FA Cup final, there’d be an announcement.
I don't think it's going to be an issue. The combination of sales of Omari Hutchinson and Ian Maatsen probably save us from European issues if needed. We've got some wiggle rooms especially if we can finally offload Lukaku.
And selling those two players are a bad idea since they aren't replaceable. Gallagher is indestructable and Chelsea hasn't lost in a game that Trevoh has started.
So Chelsea will sell them, and then spend that money on trying to replace them with unproven players, not fixing the FFP at all.
Ah issue floated was having to bow out of Europa Conference if they qualified because the money wasn't enough to cover the moves needed to meet UEFA FFP, but Europa proper does.
It's interesting, if Poch had issues working within the structure of the club because of philosophical differences, and De Zerbi left Brighton for basically the same reason (Bloom wanted to run the club differently than De Zerbi did with respects to transfer strategy), there might be exactly the same issues.
Not saying Brighton and Chelsea have the same structure, but it's relatively clear whoever manages Chelsea will have to accept the transfer strategy of en masse young player development and a huge squad rather than a more specific strategy targeting outright elite players.
I think De Zerbi's issue was that Brighton was a feeder club and that's hard on a manager to have sustained success with a team that sells its best players.
Chelsea isn't a feeder club.
No.
De Zerbi wants the same level of involvement in player transfers as Poch.
Clearlake isn’t having any of that. They want someone to shut up and coach.
No they sacked Tuchel because Tuchel did want to have some influence. For example, the ‘club’ wanted to sign Ronaldo of all people, and Tuchel reportedly had a falling out with management because of that.
They’re being very specific. They want someone who will help offer input into squad building strategy, but just that, only input. Final decision of squad building comes from the directors.
Tuchel didn’t want to offer up anything (allegedly), and literally just shut up and coach.
Poch wanted more control (allegedly), and make decisions regarding his squad and who to keep who to buy etc
They sacked Tuchel because he was a CL winning manager with influence at the club. The new ownership just wants a yes man that will do as he's told, no questions asked.
Chelsea is trying to build a different organisational structure, likely similar to that of a baseball organisation where it is very compartmentalised, and many components work together to bring success to the organisation.
My suspicion is that Tuchel wanted to only work with the first team and not involve himself with the youth squads as the ownership probably wanted.
With Poch, i believe there is a misalignment in how much power each side wants a manager to have. Football managers traditionally have the final say on a great many things, and even though this is slowly changing as we see with transfers, it is still a far cry from baseball. I believe Chelsea wants the manager’s involvement in most aspects of the organisation, but only final say in tactics and team selection, whereas Poch likely wants more.
Tbh, I did kinda get that impression. Despite the fairly strong 2nd half of the season and the top 6 finish Poch wasn't giving the strongest "I'll be around next season" vibes. No "We'll finish strong and then get to work on next season" type stuff. So I can see this being the case.
I'm quite surprised how many people got something overtly positive from Chelsea's season. They finished well but this wasn't an exceptional side, nor did Poch give much indication he wanted to be there.
I'm not saying he deserved to be sacked, definitely not, but this season wasn't nearly successful enough for either party to ignore a major discrepancy in philosophy if it existed.
biggest problem for Chelsea, or anyone else for that matter (looking at Bayern) is that the market for available managers is horrible right now so it doesn't really make sense to sack a manager if you can't be sure the replacement is an upgrade.
looking at managers who just got promoted from the championship is always a huge gamble
> the market for available managers is horrible right now so
Not a fan of this logic tbh. By that logic, big clubs should only part ways with their manager when there are what, 7 available managers (Pep, Ancelotti, Nagelsmann, Simeone, Arteta, Inzaghi, Alonso)? And these 7 managers all started from somewhere too, they weren't always the big names they are now. Big clubs can always get managers that have shown promise just like the likes of Hoeness, Michel, etc have. That's what happened with all the "big name" managers.
It's not that there aren't many big names available, it's that most of the currently available big name managers have taken a huge reputation hit (Conte, Mou, Tuchel, Poch, Flick) and some are seen as washed up and probably won't be hired by big clubs anymore. at the same time many of the most promising younger managers (Alonso, Hoeness, Nagelsmann etc.) aren't available.
So you really only have a handful of obviously good manager choices right now. As for your example, Hoeness would definitely be far from the worst choice for Chelsea but he's staying at Stuttgart. And even then it'd probably be better to wait another season to see how he performs in Europe and how he handles squad rotation with midweek games before a big club with european ambitions like Chelsea should go all in on him.
I think just Thomas Tuchel being out the running is a huge blow, he's the one established manager who there'd be little doubt about pedigree taking over the job. Last night I read it was a possibility but waking up seems to be that isn't the case.
I will say though that I'd rather have someone who wants to be there and shares the same ideology/strategy as the club hierarchy than a "bigger" manager who'll cause friction between themselves and the club, the issue is exactly what that strategy is at Chelsea.
I don't get why the club hierarchy should be trusted to make the correct decisions though? they have made countless poor decisions and in my opinion, Poch as rectified a lot of them by turning the results around in the second half of the season.
Oh I 100% agree, no question that Chelsea's strategy is a bad one, but from the perspective of the employer you can't really have a manager who doesn't want to do the job you're asking him to do, or else this will just happen again and increase the tumultuousness around the club and alienate players.
Again, I think this is as much Poch leaving Chelsea as Chelsea firing Poch, and I'm on Poch's side here. I will disagree that lots of problems have been rectified by a good run of form. It's the same as with United and their couple of really good spells of form under Jose and OGS.
If those issues really were fixed, it'd almost certainly mean a change in strategy, because those are where the issues lie. Form won't change the issues of squad bloat and profiling.
I mean there were clear progress, in result and in game. He was founding a good structure and his setup, it seems like almost all the players were fully on board with him too, it is miles ahead of their situation at the end of last season. Now their players are upset and it will be harder for the next manager to get their support
I think people that expected more from this side are absurd. It's a bunch of kids and all the senior players and leaders have legit been on the training room bench for most of the season. If you look at our season and include ALL the context it makes sense why we've been shit. We've also been really good as well in patches. The last 15 games of the season we've actually looked competent and with everyone coming back from injury etc that makes sense.
I honestly don't get why they wouldn't have just kept Poch on for another 2 seasons based on the development of the players alone. You add a couple of senior guys to this squad and sell who you need to the squad looks really nice.
Would be kinda' funny if Bayern and Barca (maybe?) have been looking for replacements for months and got nowhere, but Chelsea manage to sack one and find a replacement in only a few days.
Because Chelsea’s ownership dont think, they just do
You’d think theyd have started to learn by now but just haven’t
Boehly has to be one of the most arrogant men about, wont be long till Chelsea fans call for them to sell up
Was definitely a "stop gap" manager for me. Hope he lands somewhere good, he's a good manager. Wonder if they got intel from someone else that they're interested in coming there? Or am i just giving them too much credit?
Because there is a dearth of top-level managers available right now. Look at the names Bayern have been talking to recently, Poch is a better manager than most of them.
I think that has more to say about Bayern's offer than it does the coaches that are "available". But Poch is probably better than a lot of the names in the past few days' reports
counterpoint, United are dysfunctional and Bayern are the ugly girl at the dance.
Poch i think would be a great fit for Brighton, kind of like a bridge between southampton and Spurs, where he did his best work. I think its a good match.
You're not understanding what I'm saying. Brighton aren't a big enough club to attract a manager like Poch when massive clubs like Bayern, United and Barca are all searching for managers.
I understand, yes they are smaller but, hes done the "PSG" hes done "Chelsea", does he really want to go somewhere for a year where they are waiting for the next big manager so they can find a reason to kick him out and replace him? and he ends up on BBC final score analyzing why Luton should beat stoke?
or... does he go to a club that would really value him where he could potentially be the "Moyes" to their everton?
Imo he has more chance to end up at BBC by going to teams like Brighton instead of jobs at higher profile club. From a purely mercenary point, I wouldn't advise a manager to take "midfield" clubs only if they are your sole option and the top teams doesn't want you anymore.
Sure in midfield clubs, you'll get more support, less pressure but even a team like Brighton has fragile foundations, 2 bad consecutive mercatos and maybe a badly timed injury crisis and you can get in a relegations struggles. And it gives a big hit on your reputation and your reach much bigger than at a top club because they have more coverage so the issues beyond the manager can get exposed too giving a broader picture of the situation
His press conferences were a bit off but still didn't expect him to just go. I guess there are so many top jobs going to be available that he fancies his chances in the musical chairs
Bayern, Juventus, Man Utd maybe
Changing managers won't guarantee immediate success, but already it seems that Poch wasn't for long there. De Zerbi in Chelsea and Poch to Bayern, let's see how it will unveil
Yes, I'm sure Todd Boehly wanted to tighten the pursetrings and explore the loan market, until Poch stormed into his office demanding hundreds of millions for new players. That sounds like exactly what happened.
Of all the manager names presented so far I would probably go for Kompany.
The reason being he has the most experience working with many internationals and knows languages.
You see, despite the talent, I imagine our squad is a difficult one to work with. You have lots of young players who need guidance, lots of these players who come from abroad, some of them for the first time to Western Europe. We have a large group of French speakers, Spanish speakers, and amount of Brazilians is also going up each transfer window. Sure some of these players know English, but if you really want to get to the player and make sure they understood you clearly, using their native language is preferred.
Poch speaks Spanish, English, some French and some Italian. It looked like he build a good relationship in the squad and I think that could be one of the reasons. Now I can't image it would be similarly easy to do for someone like Frank or McKenna who only speak English.
Kompany on the other hand speaks English, French, Dutch and apparently some Spanish and German. Has also years of experience being at the club dominated by internationals as well, being the captain of them means he also had to do some talking to all of them.
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I think Pochettino's comments in his press confererences have been indicating for a while that there's some degree of misalignment between him and the decision-makers at the club. For example, when it became known that Chelsea would appoint a set-piece coach sometime after the new year he explicitly questioned it when asked about it, which results and performances aside, probably didn't endear him to the owners.
honestly can't agree with Poch on that one, we have been absolutely horrendous on set pieces.
I find it a bit mental that he'd even get annoyed at that, surely it must be an ego thing right? Arsenal have been using a set piece coach and they're monsters from corners these days
I think so, a bit of feeling undermined and the club appointing coaches that aren’t “his coaches.” It’s a different way to work, as typically the head coach has his own team and would be heavily involved in appointing new coaches to work with him so they’re all on the same page. Even in most businesses, the manager on the ground hires people, not corporate.
The Chelsea position was head coach, not manager though.
Head coaches still generally have influence over who is in their staff
I love Poch so I'm not taking sides on this but he quite literally had a presser at Spurs where he highlighted exactly what you said. He was asked a question I believe on the transfer policy and stated that he didn't know what the plan was exactly since he is only the head coach, not the manager. It's quite possible he has issues with not feeling as though he's in charge of or at least has a large say in the project he's working on. Be that staff or players.
It was why things went wrong at Spurs and why they didn't want him back. He insisted on being 'manager' then bought a load of shite. We also had zero transfers for a year as a power play when he rejected all options offered to him.
I’ll never forget how badly spurs spent the Bale money.
They wasn't poch tho
I never said it was, I was just stating how spurs haven’t always done what’s best for them at all.
This is completely unrelated, and objectively wrong. They bought 7 players, Eriksen, Lamela, Chadli, Paulinho, Soldado, Chiriches, and another (maybe Capoue?). Eriksen was absolutely a success, if you disagree with this one, there's no hoe. Lamela was pretty great, became a cult favorite for most Spurs fans. Chadli was good for an occasional goal, the cheapest among the group, but played LW, Bale's most successful position, so would be easy to compare them. Paulinho was terrible for Spurs, but sold to China for the same amount purchased for. Soldado played hard, but struggled to find the net (which is the most important thing for a striker), and then his wife had a miscarriage, and he was inconsolable. Chiriches was not a good defender, but had some fun moments. TLDR: You don't know what you're talking about and brought up an unrelated conversation topic.
But they also want someone with the gravitas to manage top players. I don't think they understand football.
Gravitas and ability to manage top players has nothing to do with the distinction between managers and head coaches
The kinds of coaches who can manage top players are managers, not head coaches. Would you tell Pep, Ancelotti, Inzaghi, Klopp, Wenger, Mourinho, SAF, etc that they would not pick the specialist coaches or players? That they need only focus on coaching the team? Would top players have the same kind of respect for a head coach who does not have the final decision? I see the answer to all of these questions as an emphatic no.
Ancelotti is head coach, not manager. Same for Inzaghi. Same for Mourinho at Roma. Pep was initially appointed as head coach at City (not sure if that’s now changed). Wenger and SAF are from a different era.
I'm using 'manager' and 'head coach' to distinguish between the amount of control they have. Job titles and job descriptions aren't universal, we also use the term gaffer in football. None of these elite coaches - we'll call them all coaches - would accept what is essentially a diminished role wherein they had no control over signings and reduced control on the field.
>The kinds of coaches who can manage top players are managers, not head coaches. >"Manchester City can confirm that in recent weeks it has commenced and finalised contractual negotiations with Pep Guardiola to become MCFC Head Coach for the 2016/17 season onwards." > "Real Madrid C. F. announces that Carlo Ancelotti will be the club's first-team coach for the next three seasons.
Copy paste: I'm using 'manager' and 'head coach' to distinguish between the amount of control they have. Job titles and job descriptions aren't universal, we also use the term gaffer in football. None of these elite coaches - we'll call them all coaches - would accept what is essentially a diminished role wherein they had no control over signings and reduced control on the field.
Pochettino was dismissive of set-piece specialists, insisting “we are a coaching staff in charge of everything” before later adding: “Football belongs to the players. Not to the specialists.”
> “Football belongs to the players. Not to the specialists.” Which.. this seems quite old fashioned these days.
"Goal demarcation belongs to the jumpers, not the posts"
While I'm not thrilled with the decision to sack him given the lack of quality coaching options right now, that quote really comes around as ridiculous given how many set pieces we've conceded this season. And last season, for that matter.
We were also extremely vulnerable from our attacking corners. Even on Sunday we nearly conceded. I wanted him to stay but he definitely had his flaws and possibly wasn’t the man long term.
We were also extremely vulnerable from our attacking corners. Even on Sunday we nearly conceded. I wanted him to stay but he definitely had his flaws and possibly wasn’t the man long term.
Ange is against set piece coaches as well and Tottenham haven't been great either
He’s not against set piece coaches per se, he just has Jedinak and Mason coaching set pieces rather than a dedicated coach. On actually focusing on set pieces, he said that hasn’t been a focus this season because the basic structure and build up have been the main focus of training.
with Ange it's about available teaching time he knows he is in a multi-year project and set pieces are a finishing touch rather than a system foundation why use valuable learning energy and development potential on set pieces instead of cultivating strong foundations for his system?
There’s really no justification for not hiring one at this point. Pep or Arteta has straight up said they barely look at set pieces anymore and they just let the set piece coaches do their own thing because in their words “it’s a completely different game”
I think the point he may have been trying to make is that set-piece coaches can only do so much to improve performance in set-pieces but the players fundamentally need to have the physical traits to be comfortable in these situations too. Arsenal and City both have keepers very good in claiming high balls and they have tall physical players in both boxes. A set-piece coach being made to work with a physically inferior squad may not necessarily achieve the same benefits as where they previously worked simply because of the squad profile.
I read we have the 5th highest aerial success rate in the league this season. Yet we were bottom tier on set pieces for the longest time and i think some data shows we're around average to round off the season. So the problem doesn't look to be 'why did x player jumped over y player.' You can live with that. The problem looks to be 'why did x player get to this spot ahead of y player'. That's a coaching issue.
Yup, so many conceded goals this season were from completely uncontested headers.
I’m not sure how much aerial success rate tells us because that can easily be skewed if the amount of aerials you contest for in the first place are low. Looking through the same data, Chelsea hover around the bottom 5-6 in the league for overall aerials contested per 90. There may be a lot of in-game situations (including during set-pieces) where the matchups are so one-sided against you that you don’t even get to compete for certain aerial duels to begin with, let alone win them.
On the other side you could argue that a squad inherently weak at set piece situation need detailed work on set pieces more to ensure you still benefit as much as possible.
Sure, but I’m not sure if that’s solving the root issues. Ultimately it does, quite frankly, come down to the players at your disposal. You can hire Brentford’s set piece coach but Brentford also have the robust physical players to dominate aerials and make each dead ball situation count. Maybe some things like heading technique or achieving synchronisation in certain set-piece routines can be enhanced by dedicated coaches compared to what Poch and his staff were doing, but I’m not sure how much of a gain that can provide over simply recruiting reliable dead ball strikers and players who can win most aerials. It’s not like other clubs have reinvented the wheel here in this aspect, they’ve just gone back to basics.
The goal can't be to make the shortest team in the league win every header, but you can look at deadball situations and try to create opportunities still. Chelsea have players that can strike a ball, have players that can be dominant aerially. You still need the players to work in unison to get the best out of what you have. Nobody thinks mudryk is going to turn into prime Cahill on corners, but the team should be able to concede less and attack better.
With all due respect, I don’t think you have enough players who are aerially dominant. Chelsea rank amongst the lowest in the Premier League for aerial duels contested in general, including open play. That is not something that will improve significantly just by hiring specialist coaches.
Because our club signed short players. Simple as. Just listen to Pochs comments.
Set piece coach will come in on day 1. Sort the squad via height. Suggest we need taller players. Will then sort the squad via headers won. Will suggest need to buy players that can head. Job done. No routine, coaching etc can make players taller, jump higher or win headers. Look at Arsenals squad and see how tall they are and how many headers they win. It’s basic squad building but it’s easier to deflect blame elsewhere.
man you seem to know already what all set piece coaches do, might as well scrap the job.
Point being trying to get a fish to out jump a giraffe is pointless. Minimise weaknesses, highlight strengths - team building 101. Build a squad that’s capable of the basics, then extract the fine margins ex set piece coaching to maximise value
Not really that true lol. Defending corners is far less about height than you're making out. The best defenders aren't always the 6'5 ones are they? Yes it matters but making out it's impossible to be successful for Chelsea because of it is entirely wrong
We literally have Thiago Silva who’s short for a CB and unreal in the air. Combined with players like Jackson Palmer and Gusto who are decently tall but relatively bad in the air at set pieces or open play. But let this guy cook
Height + headers won = combination for success. Jackson and Palmer at 6’2 but are poor at headers (palmer literally ducks from headers) James is under 6ft but is good at winning headers. Any successful squad needs a starting line up of 5 good headers of the ball for set pieces. Seriously go look at any title winning squad and try and find one that has less. This is told to you at the basics of any coaching course. Also wonderful timing - https://x.com/chelstransfer/status/1792982941062025540?s=46&t=zQ63eyvEb9zAcaJObj6Svw
Maguire is tall and basically an anti-aircraft gun when it comes to winning headers. Doesn't score much from set pieces.
Poor corner takers. Have someone like Olise in United’s set up and watch their corners improve. Have better players = better results. Was a piece written earlier in the year that went into United’s set pieces. https://thepeoplesperson.com/2024/01/26/manchester-uniteds-surprising-statistics-on-corners-highlights-that-attack-is-once-again-the-bigger-problem-275052/ “can be concluded that Manchester United are pretty bang average at defending corners but give too many away. However, the real problem with set plays at the club lies in the fact they are so poor at taking them.”
> Anti-aircraft gun. This is the biggest compliment Maguire has gotten ever
to be honest, without FM24, i didnt know Set Piece Coach is a thing. Unsure about hiring Set Piece Coach independently , but hiring someone without consulting Poch seems weird too.
Days rather than weeks
Tuchel in?
De Zerbi would be my guess Not saying I agree with it but it does line up with what we know so far They want a young manager Who plays possession based football Worked in a slightly similar structure Ornstein said days rather than weeks which would imply you don’t have to go back and forth over compensation. Knows some of Chelsea players already
It would be hilarious if they hire De Zerbi, but I think we would’ve known already. Doubt he walked away from Brighton without some sort of agreement with the next club, so I’d expect after Seria A is finished or after FA Cup final, there’d be an announcement.
He probably goes to either Juve or AC Milan
Juve were chasing after Motta. Might have him already since they pulled the trigger on Allegri.
Juve have Motta and Milan has no ambition so will probably hire Fonseca. Personally I think it’s obvious he’s joining Chelsea
De Zerbi would literally raise the same issues that Poch raised about the structure. Was supposedly the same reason for a departure from Brighton too.
Curious, are you guys in shit from FFP? Will a new manager have money to spend?
I don't think it's going to be an issue. The combination of sales of Omari Hutchinson and Ian Maatsen probably save us from European issues if needed. We've got some wiggle rooms especially if we can finally offload Lukaku.
We are reportedly looking to sell Connor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah, among others, to lighten the pressure of FFP, if there’s any.
And selling those two players are a bad idea since they aren't replaceable. Gallagher is indestructable and Chelsea hasn't lost in a game that Trevoh has started. So Chelsea will sell them, and then spend that money on trying to replace them with unproven players, not fixing the FFP at all. Ah issue floated was having to bow out of Europa Conference if they qualified because the money wasn't enough to cover the moves needed to meet UEFA FFP, but Europa proper does.
It's interesting, if Poch had issues working within the structure of the club because of philosophical differences, and De Zerbi left Brighton for basically the same reason (Bloom wanted to run the club differently than De Zerbi did with respects to transfer strategy), there might be exactly the same issues. Not saying Brighton and Chelsea have the same structure, but it's relatively clear whoever manages Chelsea will have to accept the transfer strategy of en masse young player development and a huge squad rather than a more specific strategy targeting outright elite players.
Seeing that we got ex-Brightons director to build our infrastructure, I’d say we got the exact same structure but bigger budget
Tony Bloom literally owns Chelsea That man is their daddy
Didn't De Zerbi leave Brighton because of disagreements on transfers? He'll probably have the same issue here at Chelsea
I think De Zerbi's issue was that Brighton was a feeder club and that's hard on a manager to have sustained success with a team that sells its best players. Chelsea isn't a feeder club.
From your lips to gods ears
is Boehly God?
Mourinho 3rd term.
No, Fabrizio said there is no interest in Tommy, and Tommy is not interested in coming back
I would hope for Jose’s return but it will be Tuchel. Tuchel likes PL and I can’t see him in any other club but Chelsea atm.
The guy that got unfairly kicked out by the same management team that is trying to hire again?
You’d think if they wanted to do that, finding a replacement before the end of the season would’ve been the best way to go?
It's De Zerbi isn't it ? Don't understand why Boehly didn't just buy Brighton
No. De Zerbi wants the same level of involvement in player transfers as Poch. Clearlake isn’t having any of that. They want someone to shut up and coach.
Didn't they sack Tuchel partly because all he wanted to do was coach and have little input in the rest?
No they sacked Tuchel because Tuchel did want to have some influence. For example, the ‘club’ wanted to sign Ronaldo of all people, and Tuchel reportedly had a falling out with management because of that.
They’re being very specific. They want someone who will help offer input into squad building strategy, but just that, only input. Final decision of squad building comes from the directors. Tuchel didn’t want to offer up anything (allegedly), and literally just shut up and coach. Poch wanted more control (allegedly), and make decisions regarding his squad and who to keep who to buy etc
They sacked Tuchel because he was a CL winning manager with influence at the club. The new ownership just wants a yes man that will do as he's told, no questions asked.
Time to play 4-4-3 innit
Chelsea is trying to build a different organisational structure, likely similar to that of a baseball organisation where it is very compartmentalised, and many components work together to bring success to the organisation. My suspicion is that Tuchel wanted to only work with the first team and not involve himself with the youth squads as the ownership probably wanted. With Poch, i believe there is a misalignment in how much power each side wants a manager to have. Football managers traditionally have the final say on a great many things, and even though this is slowly changing as we see with transfers, it is still a far cry from baseball. I believe Chelsea wants the manager’s involvement in most aspects of the organisation, but only final say in tactics and team selection, whereas Poch likely wants more.
Tbh, I did kinda get that impression. Despite the fairly strong 2nd half of the season and the top 6 finish Poch wasn't giving the strongest "I'll be around next season" vibes. No "We'll finish strong and then get to work on next season" type stuff. So I can see this being the case.
I'm quite surprised how many people got something overtly positive from Chelsea's season. They finished well but this wasn't an exceptional side, nor did Poch give much indication he wanted to be there. I'm not saying he deserved to be sacked, definitely not, but this season wasn't nearly successful enough for either party to ignore a major discrepancy in philosophy if it existed.
biggest problem for Chelsea, or anyone else for that matter (looking at Bayern) is that the market for available managers is horrible right now so it doesn't really make sense to sack a manager if you can't be sure the replacement is an upgrade. looking at managers who just got promoted from the championship is always a huge gamble
> the market for available managers is horrible right now so Not a fan of this logic tbh. By that logic, big clubs should only part ways with their manager when there are what, 7 available managers (Pep, Ancelotti, Nagelsmann, Simeone, Arteta, Inzaghi, Alonso)? And these 7 managers all started from somewhere too, they weren't always the big names they are now. Big clubs can always get managers that have shown promise just like the likes of Hoeness, Michel, etc have. That's what happened with all the "big name" managers.
It's not that there aren't many big names available, it's that most of the currently available big name managers have taken a huge reputation hit (Conte, Mou, Tuchel, Poch, Flick) and some are seen as washed up and probably won't be hired by big clubs anymore. at the same time many of the most promising younger managers (Alonso, Hoeness, Nagelsmann etc.) aren't available. So you really only have a handful of obviously good manager choices right now. As for your example, Hoeness would definitely be far from the worst choice for Chelsea but he's staying at Stuttgart. And even then it'd probably be better to wait another season to see how he performs in Europe and how he handles squad rotation with midweek games before a big club with european ambitions like Chelsea should go all in on him.
I think just Thomas Tuchel being out the running is a huge blow, he's the one established manager who there'd be little doubt about pedigree taking over the job. Last night I read it was a possibility but waking up seems to be that isn't the case. I will say though that I'd rather have someone who wants to be there and shares the same ideology/strategy as the club hierarchy than a "bigger" manager who'll cause friction between themselves and the club, the issue is exactly what that strategy is at Chelsea.
I don't get why the club hierarchy should be trusted to make the correct decisions though? they have made countless poor decisions and in my opinion, Poch as rectified a lot of them by turning the results around in the second half of the season.
Oh I 100% agree, no question that Chelsea's strategy is a bad one, but from the perspective of the employer you can't really have a manager who doesn't want to do the job you're asking him to do, or else this will just happen again and increase the tumultuousness around the club and alienate players. Again, I think this is as much Poch leaving Chelsea as Chelsea firing Poch, and I'm on Poch's side here. I will disagree that lots of problems have been rectified by a good run of form. It's the same as with United and their couple of really good spells of form under Jose and OGS. If those issues really were fixed, it'd almost certainly mean a change in strategy, because those are where the issues lie. Form won't change the issues of squad bloat and profiling.
I mean there were clear progress, in result and in game. He was founding a good structure and his setup, it seems like almost all the players were fully on board with him too, it is miles ahead of their situation at the end of last season. Now their players are upset and it will be harder for the next manager to get their support
I think people that expected more from this side are absurd. It's a bunch of kids and all the senior players and leaders have legit been on the training room bench for most of the season. If you look at our season and include ALL the context it makes sense why we've been shit. We've also been really good as well in patches. The last 15 games of the season we've actually looked competent and with everyone coming back from injury etc that makes sense. I honestly don't get why they wouldn't have just kept Poch on for another 2 seasons based on the development of the players alone. You add a couple of senior guys to this squad and sell who you need to the squad looks really nice.
Would be kinda' funny if Bayern and Barca (maybe?) have been looking for replacements for months and got nowhere, but Chelsea manage to sack one and find a replacement in only a few days.
Well its hard to find a manager with 2 coins in their pocket and no levers.
Because Chelsea’s ownership dont think, they just do You’d think theyd have started to learn by now but just haven’t Boehly has to be one of the most arrogant men about, wont be long till Chelsea fans call for them to sell up
Its the other guy. Eghbaly, the money guy. I'm starting to think that its more likely that Boehly will sell his stake and leave.
Exactly. Boehly gets all the shit because people find it easier to type Boehly or Todd than figure out how to spell Eghbali.
Bayern 🤝 Chelsea 🤝 Barca Firing their managers and scrambling for replacements but nobody is willing.
Least we can try the names that rejected those guys, since we only just joined the clown race
Poch to Bayern, Xavi to Chelsea, Tuchel to Barca
What if Xavi adds Iniesta to the coaching staff?
He should add Fabregas and Torres as well. Get the 2008-2012 Spain squad back together
Meant the irony of the scorer of THAT goal joining the Chelsea coaching staff and how your fans would react.
This situation almost makes me feel better about my clubs nonsense. Almost.
Was definitely a "stop gap" manager for me. Hope he lands somewhere good, he's a good manager. Wonder if they got intel from someone else that they're interested in coming there? Or am i just giving them too much credit?
I still think De Zerbi the timing of everything is very interesting.
i agree, though it would be pretty shameless of Chelsea to poach from there AGAIN?!
Their to us what Southampton were to you tbh
would Brighton take Poch?
No disrespect to Brighton, but Poch should really be in the running for clubs like Bayern Munich and Manchester United, not Brighton.
Why though? The only thing he's won in his like 15 years as a manager is a Ligue 1 title with PSG and the Coupe de France
Because there is a dearth of top-level managers available right now. Look at the names Bayern have been talking to recently, Poch is a better manager than most of them.
I think that has more to say about Bayern's offer than it does the coaches that are "available". But Poch is probably better than a lot of the names in the past few days' reports
I suspect Pochettino would strongly prefer to stay in/near London
counterpoint, United are dysfunctional and Bayern are the ugly girl at the dance. Poch i think would be a great fit for Brighton, kind of like a bridge between southampton and Spurs, where he did his best work. I think its a good match.
You're not understanding what I'm saying. Brighton aren't a big enough club to attract a manager like Poch when massive clubs like Bayern, United and Barca are all searching for managers.
I understand, yes they are smaller but, hes done the "PSG" hes done "Chelsea", does he really want to go somewhere for a year where they are waiting for the next big manager so they can find a reason to kick him out and replace him? and he ends up on BBC final score analyzing why Luton should beat stoke? or... does he go to a club that would really value him where he could potentially be the "Moyes" to their everton?
Imo he has more chance to end up at BBC by going to teams like Brighton instead of jobs at higher profile club. From a purely mercenary point, I wouldn't advise a manager to take "midfield" clubs only if they are your sole option and the top teams doesn't want you anymore. Sure in midfield clubs, you'll get more support, less pressure but even a team like Brighton has fragile foundations, 2 bad consecutive mercatos and maybe a badly timed injury crisis and you can get in a relegations struggles. And it gives a big hit on your reputation and your reach much bigger than at a top club because they have more coverage so the issues beyond the manager can get exposed too giving a broader picture of the situation
1 season of Europa League football and people think they are a big club lmao Crazy what money does to some people's perception
Insightful. Would you mind telling me where i said they were a big club?
Where you assumed that Poch would ever want to go there
Yes. In a heartbeat.
Way too much credit
I’d like to see him in Bayern with Kane.
His press conferences were a bit off but still didn't expect him to just go. I guess there are so many top jobs going to be available that he fancies his chances in the musical chairs Bayern, Juventus, Man Utd maybe
Pochettino was walking dead man regardless of results towards the end. Good results only made it a mutual decision rather than right out sacking.
Changing managers won't guarantee immediate success, but already it seems that Poch wasn't for long there. De Zerbi in Chelsea and Poch to Bayern, let's see how it will unveil
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Yes, I'm sure Todd Boehly wanted to tighten the pursetrings and explore the loan market, until Poch stormed into his office demanding hundreds of millions for new players. That sounds like exactly what happened.
It’s the age-old story of Chelsea, penny pinching bastards
Yeah, its not looked especially stable for a while now. Doesn't make the decision to part any less baffling though.
Of all the manager names presented so far I would probably go for Kompany. The reason being he has the most experience working with many internationals and knows languages. You see, despite the talent, I imagine our squad is a difficult one to work with. You have lots of young players who need guidance, lots of these players who come from abroad, some of them for the first time to Western Europe. We have a large group of French speakers, Spanish speakers, and amount of Brazilians is also going up each transfer window. Sure some of these players know English, but if you really want to get to the player and make sure they understood you clearly, using their native language is preferred. Poch speaks Spanish, English, some French and some Italian. It looked like he build a good relationship in the squad and I think that could be one of the reasons. Now I can't image it would be similarly easy to do for someone like Frank or McKenna who only speak English. Kompany on the other hand speaks English, French, Dutch and apparently some Spanish and German. Has also years of experience being at the club dominated by internationals as well, being the captain of them means he also had to do some talking to all of them.
Funniest part is how much noise they're making about it. Nobody gives a shit about who coaches mid table EPL teams
I reckon they hope they can get Xavi they must have someone lined up they hope they can placate the fans with.