Pochettino explains why his current situation is ‘different’ to when Thomas Tuchel became Chelsea manager

Mauricio Pochettino says he has been appointed amidst Chelsea’s change in project while Thomas Tuchel came in when club already had built one

Mauricio Pochettino has claimed his appointment has come in the midst of Chelsea’s change in project under a new owner, while Thomas Tuchel took charge when ambitions were already set.

Tuchel, who was appointed as Chelsea’s manager in January 2021, led the Blues to the 2020–21 Champions League. He was abruptly sacked last year by new owner Todd Boehly, which saw new rules and principles being implemented.

Boehly seemed to have taken the initiative to give the manager time this season. But we couldn’t do it in the previous campaign due to pressure after a string of horrible results. Poch’s arrival seemed like a decision taken by our owners after learning from their previous errors in west London.

Pochettino was subsequently picked by the West Londoners to take over the reins and attempt to reverse the trend, but so far that hasn’t happened as Chelsea has only won one of its first five Premier League games.

Now the Argentine manager seems to have drawn comparisons from Tuchel, but Pochettino was quick to rebuff those claims, as he told Scott Trotter, quoted by Fabrizio Romano, before the Premier League game against Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge:

“Thomas Tuchel arrived on a different project, a project that was already built. We arrived here in a project where the principal guide was changing; that’s why it’s different.”

Due to Roman Abramovich’s hiring and firing of managers in response to subpar results, we hardly ever had long-term projects under one coach. As a result, managers at Chelsea would have very little time to instil a winning mindset. They were more or less required to win from the get-go or get out.

Tuchel did a great job when he came in but the club were still struggling under Frank Lampard then. Of course, the structure at the club was strong because we had a great mix of experience and youth, but the German manager did brilliant work to guide us to Champions League glory.

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While Pochettino has the support of the board under Boehly and wants to establish his own beliefs, there is a significant difference between the two, and the board is under pressure because of the fans’ impatience. Hopefully, the Argentine manager will quickly reverse the situation.

The 1-0 loss against Aston Villa will not help his case one bit, but if we are talking about a long-term project, then that means months and seasons at a stretch. We have to be patient for Poch’s medicine to work but right now, there have to be at least some improvements so the fans get onside with the manager.