After Roberto De Zerbi, another major managerial exit of the summer has happened in the form of Mauricio Pochettino leaving Chelsea by mutual consent.
Pochettino took charge of Chelsea last summer amidst a lot of hope and excitement but the Blues have had a disappointing season. This campaign, Chelsea lost as many as 11 league games and in the end, they finished sixth on the Premier League table.
The team did pick up pace towards the end of the season and they even won their final five games of the season but a late dash wasn’t enough to save Poch’s job. A mixed season clubbed with the failure to get back into the Champions League has forced Todd Boehly to show Mauricio Pochettino the door.
Sporting Directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said via an official statement: ‘On behalf of everyone at Chelsea, we would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season.
“He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career.’
Mauricio Pochettino managed 51 games during his one-year stint and he had a PPM of 1.78 but this poor show is not solely due to his tactics because the Chelsea squad was constantly plagued with injuries and this was a major stumbling block for the Argentine manager.
However, the bottom line is that Pochettino has left the club and reportedly, Chelsea are now in the hunt for a young manager.
Who will replace Mauricio Pochettino as the next Chelsea manager:
It’s being claimed that Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna is one of the favourites to take up the job but he is also on Brighton’s radar.
The 38-year-old left his job as assistant manager of Manchester United in December of 2021 and in the same month, he took charge of Ipswich Town. And in just two years, McKenna has done magic because next season, Ipswich will be playing in the Premier League.
Under McKenna, Ipswich has won back-to-back promotions and this season, they have collected 96 points in 46 Championship games, losing just six matches.
The other name that has been doing the rounds is Sebastian Hoeness who is currently managing VfB Stuttgart. He took charge of the club in 2023 and this season, they have finished second on the Bundesliga table, one point ahead of the mighty Bayern Munich.
Hoeness managed the Bayern U19 team and then the Bayern B team before going to TSG Hoffenheim from 2020 to 2022.
The third manager who has been linked as the replacement for Mauricio Pochettino is Girona’s 48-year-old boss Michel.
Girona, like Stuttgart and Ipswich Town, have had a fairytale season, finishing third on the Spanish top division table and they have secured a place in the Champions League next season. However, Girona and Man City have the same owners so their participation in the UCL next season has still not been confirmed.
Out of these three young managers, Michel is perhaps the least favourite to replace Mauricio Pochettino because, in his 131 games in charge, the manager has won just 66 games with a PPM of 1.7.
Sebastian Hoeness is also unlikely to come to England because if Chelsea are serious about bringing in a young and dynamic manager then Kieran McKenna will be Boehly’s target number one.
Despite managing 133 matches in over two years, he has a PPM of 2 and to date, he’s lost just 21 matches. Also, under the 38-year-old, The Tractor Boys are playing some really exciting and attacking brand of football. This season, Ipswich has scored 92 goals which is the highest amongst all the 24 teams.
Obviously, these are early days and several other names will be linked with the Chelsea job as the summer rolls along but amongst these three early contenders, Kieran McKenna is perhaps the best suited to replace Mauricio Pochettino.
However, the Northern Irishman is also wanted by Brighton and if he wants to leave Ipswich then a move to Brighton will make a lot more sense because, with the Seagulls, McKenna will get a lot more room to experiment and at the same time his failures won’t be judged too harshly.
He will have closely watched how Mauricio Pochettino was sacked by Chelsea despite the manager’s plans seeming to be taking shape towards the end of the campaign and if he can’t deliver instant results then he might suffer a similar fate.
