There has not been so much doom and gloom around Chelsea for a long time. Even after former owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned. Even after losing Eden Hazard at the start of a year-long transfer ban.
Chelsea are guaranteed to finish outside the top 10 for the first time since 1996 at the end of a miserable season, which had promised so much under new, deep-pocketed ownership and a manager, Thomas Tuchel, adored in the stands.
Two sackings, £600m and the worst sets of results for nearly three decades later and the mood has soured to unpalatable lows. Now, Mauricio Pochettino is close to becoming the man to press the reset button again this summer at Stamford BridgeThis is the same man who signed off from his last job with a Ligue 1 title and French Cup double with PSG, and barely four years ago led Tottenham to their first Champions League final. On the surface, there are plenty of reasons why inheriting a bloated squad low on morale and a seemingly impulsive, scattergun owner don't look appealing.This is the third or fourth time they've tried to approach him, and I don't think any of the other times were as perfect a fit as this. The major thing Chelsea need is direction, purpose, clarity, an overhauling of all those things and that is his sweet spot, his skill.
Melissa Reddy believes Mauricio Pochettino would be a successful appointment for Chelsea, insisting that the Blues needs purpose and direction after a shaky season.
"He's very good at assessing the landscape. Competition in the Premier League is as high as it has been, but he will think Chelsea just need a few tweaks and they will be there. They don't need much to be a successful, triumphant team, they just need the right man to pull it together.
"That squad that Chelsea have, they'll be enlivened by him and excited by him. He'll have a clear identity and philosophy for the squad to work towards, which also gives the football structure an idea of how they should be recruiting - it'll create a sense of clarity, excitement and direction which they've been lacking.
"One of the other things to fix at Chelsea is interference from the owners. It's too hands on in a lot of respects, not just in recruitment but going into the dressing room and addressing the players, when it's not their place.
"Pochettino has experience in dealing with this at Southampton, Nicola Cortese used to speak to the players directly but he made him come through the coaching staff instead. Part of the negotiations with Chelsea would have been about being allowed to work in the way they do, without undercutting them."
The scale of the Pochettino revolution at Tottenham and previously Southampton was evident from the results on the pitch, but the foundations behind it weren't always as evident from the stands.
At St Mary's for example, the individual conditioning programme he curated for Adam Lallana helped the midfielder shake off recurring fitness issues - and was something he missed after he was sold to Liverpool in 2014.
"He takes a real genuine interest in his players, what they're going through, what their personal lives are like," Reddy added. "There's an open-door policy where they can go and chat to him about anything.
"Ryan Mason is another one who will speak highly of him as a manager. He was a shell of a player and Pochettino and Jesus Perez saw that, worked with him, rebuilt his confidence, and when he went through that career-ending injury it was them who supported him and helped him gain that pathway into coaching.
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