Pochettino leaves Chelsea by mutual consent after just one season in charge
Mauricio Pochettino has left his job as Chelsea manager by mutual consent, the Premier League side announced on Tuesday, ending the Argentine’s reign at the club after one season despite a late revival in their fortunes.
Pochettino joined Chelsea ahead of the 2023-24 campaign when he replaced interim manager Frank Lampard as the club’s new owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital looked to freshen things up after a 12th-placedfinish the previous season.
He signed a two-year contract, with the club having the option of a further year, but the 52-year-old has now left the west London side after a turbulent campaign despite a late rally to finish sixth and secure European football for next season.
They also reached the League Cup final, losing to Liverpool after extra time at Wembley, and the FA Cup semi-finals where they were beaten by Manchester City.
Mauricio Pochettino factbox
Born: March 2, 1972 in Murphy, Santa Fe, Argentina.
PLAYING CAREER
* The centre back began his playing career with Newell’s Old Boys in 1988, making his debut at the age of 16.
* Claimed his first piece of silverware in 1991 when Newell’s were crowned champions of the Argentine Primera Division.
* Signed for Spanish side Espanyol in 1994, making more than 200 appearances and winning the King’s Cup before joining Paris St Germain in 2000.
* Made his Argentina debut in 1999 and went on to earn 20 caps, playing in the 2002 World Cup, where he conceded a penalty that David Beckham scored in England’s 1-0 group stage victory.
* Left PSG for Girondins de Bordeaux in 2003, but struggled to settle in the south of France and rejoined Espanyol on loan during the second half of the season.
* Dubbed the ‘Sheriff of Murphy’ because of where he grew up, Pochettino joined Espanyol permanently after the 2003 season and won a second King’s Cup in 2006 before retiring at 34.
COACHING CAREER
* Following his retirement from playing, Pochettino took his coaching qualifications and had a stint as assistant manager of Espanyol’s successful women’s side.
* In January 2009 at the age of 36, he took charge of third-bottom Espanyol and took them to a 10th-place finish in La Liga.
* Espanyol ended in mid-table in each of the following two seasons, just missing out on qualifying for the Europa League in 2011 after spending much of the campaign in the top five.
* Although they slipped to 14th the next season, Pochettino developed a reputation for bringing young players through the academy.
* At the start of the 2012-13 season, Pochettino expressed concerns about the club’s financial situation, and with the team bottom of La Liga, he left by mutual consent in November 2012.
SOUTHAMPTON
* Pochettino replaced Nigel Adkins as manager of Premier League Southampton in January 2013 as the south-coast club looked to stay up after promotion the previous season.
* Despite being relatively unknown in England, Pochettino guided the club to a 14th-place finish after adopting a high-pressing, attacking style of play.
* The Argentine continued his philosophy of developing home-grown talent with England’s left back Luke Shaw bursting on to the scene, while the likes of Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez also flourished under him.
* After a solid start to the 2013-14 season, Pochettino led them to eighth, their highest ever finish in the Premier League at the time.
* With a year left on his contract and uncertainty surrounding the future of key players, such as England internationals Shaw and Lallana, Pochettino decided to join Tottenham Hotspur, where he became the second Argentine to manage the club after Osvaldo Ardiles.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
* Pochettino was appointed Spurs head coach on a five-year deal for the 2014-15 season to replace Tim Sherwood. He became Tottenham’s 10th manager since 2001 under chairman Daniel Levy.
* Spurs finished fifth in his first season and reached the final of the League Cup. They then battled 5,000-1 outsiders Leicester City for the title in 2015-16 but the Foxes won the race while the London club finished third to claim a Champions League spot for the first time since 2010-11.
* Pochettino continued to foster young players and the likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Danny Rose, Kieran Trippier and Harry Winks all blossomed at the club and with England.
* The Argentine penned a new five-year deal in May 2016 and Tottenham maintained their upward trajectory, finishing second and then third again over the following two campaigns as well as reaching the Champions League last-16 in 2017-18.
* Fan-favourite Pochettino, dubbed ‘Magic’ by the Tottenham faithful, signed another five-year contract in May 2018 as Levy put his faith in the manager’s ability to bring success.
* Despite operating with a much lower transfer budget than other top European clubs and having to play at Wembley while their new one billion pound ($1.36 billion) stadium was built, Spurs reached their first Champions League final after recovering from 3-0 down on aggregate away against Ajax Amsterdam in the semi-finals.
* However, Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 in the final in Madrid and a poor start to the 2019-20 campaign — with the club languishing in 14th place in the Premier League and having been thrashed 7-2 at home by Bayern Munich in the Champions League — led to the Pochettino being sacked in November.
PARIS ST GERMAIN
* Ligue 1 champions PSG sacked Thomas Tuchel a day after the league’s winter break began and signed Pochettino on a deal until June 2022, with an option of a further year.
* He won the French Cup and the French Super Cup with PSG in 2021 before securing the Ligue 1 title the following season.
* Yet PSG were knocked out of the 2021-22 Champions League by Real Madrid in the round of 16 despite holding a 2-0 aggregate lead at halftime in the second leg and Pochettino was sacked at the end of the season.
CHELSEA
* He arrived at Chelsea ahead of the 2023-24 campaign to replace interim manager Frank Lampard as the club’s new owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital looked to freshen things up after a 12th-placed finish the previous season.
* He came in after Chelsea had splashed out more than any club in Europe in the close season transfer window, spending 400 million pounds ($508.36 million) on signings.
* After a poor start, he turned things around and they lost one of their last 15 games in the league, winning the last five in a row to finish sixth and qualify for Europe.
* They also reached the League Cup final, losing to Liverpool after extra time at Wembley, and the FA Cup semi-finals where they were beaten by Manchester City.
* Pochettino left the club by mutual consent after just one season in charge.
“On behalf of everyone at Chelsea, we would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season,” sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said in a statement.
“He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career.”
Former Paris St Germain and Tottenham Hotspur manager Pochettino came in after Chelsea had splashed out more than any club in Europe in the close season transfer window last year, spending 400 million pounds ($508.28 million) on signings.
Boehly and Clearlake had spent over one billion dollars on players since they took over the club in 2022, with most of the outlay going into young players signing long-term contracts as they looked to build a team for the future.
THIRD MANAGER
Pochettino was Chelsea’s third permanent manager under the new ownership after Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter and the players took time to gel as the club struggled to establish a run in the early months, sitting 12th at one stage.
But Pochettino turned things around as players returned from injury and they lost one of their last 15 games, winning the last five in a row to soar to sixth spot and qualify for Europe.
Chelsea have qualified for the Conference League but will play in the Europa League if Premier League champions Manchester City win the FA Cup final against Manchester United on Saturday.
Speculation had been rife Pochettino would be gone after one year in charge but he remained tight-lipped about his future when asked after their final game of the season on Sunday.
The Argentine would not be drawn on ‘rumours’ of his exit but said on Sunday that he had had dinner with Boehly.
“Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and sporting directors for the opportunity to be part of this football club’s history,” Pochettino said on Tuesday.
“The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come.”