Chelsea claims to be the best club in England, according to Pochettino.

 Chelsea claims to be the best club in England, according to Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino, Manager of World XI looks on during Soccer Aid for Unicef 2023 at Old Trafford on June 11, 2023 in Manchester, England(Getty)

Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Bruno Saltor, and Frank Lampard—all have coached Chelsea in the past season. However, they didn't succeed. The Premier League club finished 12th in the league, their worst season in this century.

To forget the tough times and turn around in the 2023-24 season, Chelsea has entrusted the management of the team to a familiar face in English football. Maurizio Pochettino has been appointed as the head coach. The 51-year-old Argentine previously spent five years at another London club, Tottenham Hotspur, before being sacked last year. He also coached Southampton before that.

Pochettino officially took charge of Chelsea last Saturday. Understanding the responsibilities, he gave his first interview on Chelsea's website. In the interview, Chelsea coach Pochettino said, "In the last 10, 12, 15 years, Chelsea has been the best team in England."

Many might question such a claim by Pochettino because considering trophies and on-field performance, Manchester City is currently considered the best team in England. They have dominated the Premier League, which is regarded as the most competitive competition in the world, winning it five times in the last six seasons. Guardiola's team has also achieved the historic treble by winning the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League this year.

On the contrary, Chelsea's owner, Roman Abramovich, changed only the coach but has yet to find success. In this century, Chelsea has won five Premier League titles, two Champions League titles, and a total of 21 trophies, but all of them were achieved under the ownership of Roman Abramovich. Pochettino, through his words, perhaps wanted to highlight Chelsea's overall success in the last 15 years.

Despite coaching Tottenham and Southampton for six seasons, Pochettino couldn't win any trophies with either team. His best achievement was taking Tottenham to the final of the Champions League in the 2018-19 season. However, having spent a long time in England, he is well acquainted with the Premier League and Chelsea's culture. He believes that our team will walk the path of victory again and supporters are already excited about it.

Pochettino has the experience of coaching Messi, Neymar, and Mbappe at PSG. He has won three trophies with the Parisian club. However, coaching a star-studded team like Chelsea is a different challenge for the Argentine coach. In the past season, he had to spend a considerable amount of money to bring in big-name players like Bwalya Tod and Kornelius Bøyeli.

Only during the winter transfer period, the Blues spent a record £500 million ($653 million, 42 lakh rupees) to buy eight footballers, which is a record in their club's history and also in British football.

Chelsea's "spending spree" has now come under scrutiny. In accordance with the financial regulations of the Premier League, they had to pay attention to overall expenses. Within June 30th, Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic, N'Golo Kante, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Mason Mount, Eduard Mendy, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Christian Pulisic had to be left out. The team that was almost ready to be assembled has now been joined by Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson. However, in the upcoming season, they will have to buy more world-class players in various positions to perform well.

Pochettino is prepared to take on this challenge, "I am ready to work with this young team. We will follow a different approach this time. But before that, it is crucial that everyone works hard and creates an environment on the field that will bring success in a few years."