Ahead of his return to Tottenham Hotspur, to take on the club that he led from 2014-2019, Mauricio Pochettino was asked by a reporter if Monday night’s match will be like visiting an ex-girlfriend.
The 51-year-old Chelsea manager had some fun with the query, rolling with the punches during his weekly Friday press conference.
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The current Blues boss won about 55% of the close to 300 games in which he was in charge at White Hart Lane. He never won any trophies, but he did lead Tottenham to runners-up finished in both the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.
However, as current Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglu already articulated earlier this week, there will be no guard of honor for Pochettino on Monday.
Whether that is fair not is a question for another time and space. What is not debatable is this- Pochettino makes his long awaited return, four years in the making, at a very inopportune time.
His men have only taken eight points from the last 21 possible in the Premier League. Chelsea sits just 11th place in the table, The Argentine is already under heavy fire, despite only starting this job in August. That’s how they roll at Stamford Bridge- very little patience is granted for the managers.
Chelsea is currently double digits in points away from guaranteed European qualification. It feels like they are light years away from the top four.
And, to quote Atlanta hip-hop legends Outkast “from here on out, it only gets rougher.”
Monday sees them visit the first place side. A week from tomorrow they’ll take on reigning treble winners Manchester City. Their first match after the international break is against last year’s fourth place finisher, Newcastle.
Yikes! They could easily take no points from the next nine pts possible.
Definitely not where you want to be right now, as it would have been ideal to have banked more points in the standings already, i.e. taken advantage of the much easier stretch in the schedule that had just passed.
That loss to Nottingham Forest especially hurt. We’ll what happens the rest of this month, but when we hit December, the heat on the seat of Mauricio Pochettino could be really turned up.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram