Mauricio Pochettino has stressed he needs more time to turn Chelsea’s fortunes around, pointing to the jobs of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool as proof all long-term projects require patience.
Chelsea’s humbling 4-2 defeat at home to Wolves on Sunday saw them drop to 11th in the Premier League standings, with fans booing the Blues off at half-time and full-time.
Pressure is mounting on Pochettino to turn Chelsea’s fortunes around as soon as possible and they return to action on Wednesday with a trip to Aston Villa in an FA Cup fourth round replay. At his pre-match press conference, he insisted progress is not always linear in football, highlighting Guardiola and Klopp’s ‘clear leadership’ to ensure projects come to fruition.
“We always need time and we are building from zero. Sometimes it looks like you move forward, but sometimes you need to go back because some problems appear,” Pochettino said.
“You should think it is going to be good, but after it, it is maybe better to go for [something else]. It always takes time. Look at the project of Manchester City or Liverpool.
“It’s always about time. It’s about time and about a very clear leadership like Pep or Jurgen. It’s so clear from there you build all these projects.”
Guardiola’s first season at City was the only campaign of his managerial career so far in which he did not win a major trophy, while his side finished third in the Premier League – ironically one spot behind Pochettino, who was manager of Tottenham Hotspur at the time.
Klopp, meanwhile, came eighth in his debut Liverpool season, though they largely hedged their bets on trying to win the Europa League, reaching the final before losing 3-1 to Sevilla.
