Speaking to Bettingodds.com (h/t Metro), former English defender Glen Johnson believes the decision to sack Thomas Tuchel could come back to bite Chelsea and claims that the club should have appointed Mauricio Pochettino instead of Graham Potter.
Johnson, who has represented Liverpool, Stoke City and others apart from Chelsea, was shocked at the club’s decision to relieve Tuchel of his duties. Once that happened, the defender thought it was obvious that they would go for the former Tottenham Hotspur boss Pochettino, who is out of a job at the moment.
The 38-year-old also reveals that the Blues could have saved a lot of money by hiring Pochettino as he is not employed with anyone after leaving Paris Saint-Germain. Getting Potter meant the club had to pay the compensation to Brighton and Hove Albion to get him and his staff out of there.
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When Thomas Tuchel was sacked I thought it was obvious that Chelsea would move for Mauricio Pochettino, but obviously I got it wrong.
He would have been the man for me. I know some people were saying it would have been a cheaper option to go for Graham Potter, but it doesn’t sound that way does it?
They’ve had to pay many millions for the compensation and then pay a £10 million-a-year salary. You could have saved the £20 million it’s taken for Chelsea to get Potter and his backroom staff and got Pochettino instead.
It remains whether Chelsea’s decision to hire Potter is a good one. The owners have given him a whopping five-year contract with the assurance of time. However, nothing can be guaranteed in the current landscape of football.
The Blues played their first game under the new manager on Wednesday, drawing 1-1 at home to RB Salzburg in the Champions League. While there were some encouraging signs, the game showed that Potter needs to do a lot of work to get this team playing as a unit and winning games.
The west London club were due to host Liverpool on Sunday for a Premier League clash. But, that game is now postponed with the scheduled funeral of the Queen on Monday.
With a free weekend to work with, the manager has decided to have one-on-one meetings with the players to understand them better and make them comfortable working under him.
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