It's proving to be a gruelling transition under the Argentine at Stamford Bridge, but this was never likely to be a quick fix
Any hope or expectation that Mauricio Pochettino would be some kind of miracle worker for Chelsea has dissipated after another sobering five months at Stamford Bridge. The scale of the monumental task facing the Argentine tactician has become all too apparent, with the Blues so far unable to escape the clutches of mid-table after ending their nightmarish 2022-23 campaign in 12th.
There are, however, the shoots of recovery. Having cobbled together a run of three league wins in a row for the first time since October 2022, Chelsea are within striking distance of a place in the top six, and they are beginning to show the kind of mettle that has been the backbone of the club's success in the modern era.
However, given the magnitude of their fall from grace last season, this is no quick fix. Pochettino has his side heading laboriously in the right direction, but do not expect to see them at their best for some time yet.
GettyRelentless injuries
Chelsea's injury woes this season have been well-documented. The Blues are one of a host of clubs to have suffered an unprecedented injury crisis, a potential after-effect of the mid-season 2022 World Cup, and Pochettino has had to deal with the fallout.
Of course, the world's smallest violin will soundtrack any sympathy for the big-spending west Londoners, but almost six months into the campaign, the Argentine tactician has still never had his strongest possible line-up available to him.
Summer arrival Christopher Nkunku – on whom so much responsibility was placed when Chelsea paid £52 million ($66m) for him before declining to sign a recognised striker – effectively missed the first half of the campaign, while fellow signing Romeo Lavia has mustered just a single 32-minute appearance sandwiched between two injury problems. Never has the phrase 'they will feel like a new signing' been more apt once they return.
Key defenders Reece James, Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella are all long-term absentees, too, while Ben Chilwell has only just made a return from his latest hamstring problem, and Malo Gusto has had his share of problems, too.
AdvertisementGetty/GOALUnprecedented upheaval
That endless injury list has contributed to the enduring state of flux within the walls of Cobham after an unprecedented summer of upheaval. Chelsea's newly-appointed decision-makers justifiably set out to undertake an overhaul of the squad at the end of the dire 2022-23 campaign. They completed their clear-out with ruthless efficiency as some 21 players departed, while a world-record £450m ($571m) was splurged on 11 new arrivals – taking the club's spending under Boehly-Clearlake's stewardship beyond £1 billion ($1.23bn).
The £200m ($254m) raised through player sales will be invaluable in the struggle to fall in line with Financial Fair Play (FFP), but there is a sense that Pochettino was left to piece things together in the aftermath having started work too late to contribute to the summer transfer strategy, which was led by co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley.
With the injury crisis making their transition gruellingly slow, the dust is only just beginning to settle as the new-look squad takes shape.
Getty ImagesMore surgery needed
And yet, despite all of those ins and outs, there is still an air of incompleteness. It's the worst-kept secret in football that Chelsea are lacking a proven goal-scorer to spearhead their attack, while there is an alarming lack of depth in central midfield behind starters Conor Gallagher, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo.
When everyone is fully fit, the defence is well stocked, but the goalkeeper position has been a problem ever since Thibaut Courtois left for Real Madrid in 2018, with neither Kepa Arrizabalaga nor Robert Sanchez the long-term solution, while Djordje Petrovic is unproven at the highest level.
You can probably hear that tiny violin sounding in the distance again, but for Chelsea's squad to be the finished article, they arguably need to make three more targeted signings to address their deficiencies.
Getty ImagesSigns of identity
In the face of that relative adversity, Pochettino has actually extracted some vastly improved performances from his players as he fights to shake of the residual malaise of last season. Although they could certainly be more clinical, the Blues have just about overcome their collective goal-shyness, and there are the early signs that the manager is imprinting his footballing philosophy on his players.
Chelsea dearly lacked any sort of identity throughout a nightmarish 2022-23, but the hallmarks of the manager's high-intensity, possession-based, front-footed approach have shone through intermittently, with deadline-day signing Cole Palmer emerging as a particularly transformative presence in Chelsea's attack.
However, that incremental overall improvement has been interspersed with some woeful performances reminiscent of the previous campaign, and there is evidently some way to go before we see this team consistently at its best.