With a 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup, Chelsea were once again in a state of confusion.
It's not a question of whether you lose or who you lose, it's just that the content of Chelsea's game is incomprehensible.
Speaking after the game, Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino emphasised three points: first, the squad suffered a rare wave of injuries, with as many as 10 or 12 players unavailable; Second, it was unfortunate that the balance of luck did not tip in favor of the Blues once again; The third is that this is only the first leg of the meeting between the two teams, with Chelsea winning the second leg at home.
As Mauricio Pochettino said, Chelsea did miss a lot of close scoring opportunities; But when it comes to injuries, Middlesbrough is not a few, with three players playing in the Africa Cup of Nations, and most importantly, this is a team that is currently only 12th in the Championship.
On the contrary, Chelsea's helplessness in the face of the shrinking formation of the opposition has raised doubts, and the long-standing problems that have plagued the Blues for many years do not seem to have changed because of Pochettino's arrival; Bo Shuai, who is known for leading the youth army, does not seem to have allowed the young talents of the Blue Army to have any visible growth and leap.
Chelsea's record this season, taking the Premier League as an example, has only 8 wins, 4 draws and 8 losses in 20 rounds, temporarily ranking 10th in the league, not to mention the bad record, and Chelsea has never won more than 2 consecutive games, the record curve is like a roller coaster, they can play a heart-wrenching 4-4 with Manchester City; can even slaughter Tottenham 4-1 away and swear who is the boss of London; can also be deflated one after another in front of opponents such as Fulham and Brentford, who should have scored points.
It's him, it's him, it's him, no one knows what kind of Chelsea tomorrow will be.
And the source of all this uncertainty is Pochettino.
Pochettino, who studied under the "mad coach" Bielsa, is touted about his early success at Tottenham, but few people have carefully studied his tactical philosophy.
The advantage of this mid-post defense strategy is that once the transition between attack and defense is formed, the available space is greater than that of the high post; The efficiency and success rate of the transition are also higher than those of the low post defense.
However, this strategy is more suitable for the two teams to be evenly matched, and even the opponent's strength is higher than their own, the midfield must have the strength of a fight, so as not to be strangled by the opponent too passive, and the midfield and backfield also require a certain ability to transmit the ball and the ball, so as not to drop the chain in the most important offensive and defensive conversion link.
The eye of this style of play lies in the hardness of the midfield, so at Tottenham, Pochettino loves tough guys like Dembele and Sissoko; At Chelsea, Gallagher is favoured and the summer transfer market wants to take Caicedo at all costs.
However, a team of Chelsea's level is not as good as Pochettino's position when he was in charge of Tottenham, and in front of any opponent, Chelsea will be defined as a well-deserved strong team, so teams in the middle and lower reaches usually shrink their formation and do not fight with Chelsea in the midfield.
In this way, Pochettino's well-designed tactics have become a bit chicken, not to mention useless, and there are essentially some speculative plays, and when facing strong teams, they can fight each other and fight for attrition; When facing a weak team, you always have to find some way to break the deadlock, but unfortunately, Pochettino can't do it.
In the late stage of Tottenham's tenure, Pochettino was unable to deal with the problem of how Ndombele integrated into the tactical system, which led to the failure of the team's transformation and upgrading, and he was dismal in the middle of the season; When he was in charge of Grand Paris, Pochettino's formation was even more disjointed, so much so that the aircraft carrier was overturned.
As for being invited to coach Chelsea this time, the Blues' scouting team must have only seen Pochettino's early years lead the young Tottenham to a big fight and emerge, but they did not put themselves in Pochettino's shoes, the limitations of Pochettino's tactical system are not suitable for Chelsea; Not to mention the far-sightedness that not all young people, Pochettino has the ability to lead well.