Spending a billion pounds in the transfer market and not bringing in a proven goalscorer is like building a nice, expensive house and saying, ‘Let’s not worry about the roof.’
This is how I see Chelsea’s current situation. Mauricio Pochettino’s current situation.
What we saw in the defeat to Middlesbrough on Tuesday night was the latest manifestation of what has been evident all season: a collection of players, some very good, some not so good, and not a single real goalscorer at the top level.
There were signs of discontent among fans after the Carabao Cup defeat and if Chelsea fail to clinch a European place at the end of the season, Mauricio’s job will be on the line.
He had no complaints about that. It is now the price of football management. Mauricio has given his tacit approval to the players Chelsea have brought in. But I do think it’s important to remember that he was given the keys to a dressing room full of players bought by non-footballers and asked to form a team. theirs.
Todd Boehy has spent a whopping £1 billion since joining Chelsea but has struggled to find success on the pitch
Nicolas Jackson has potential, but is not the proven goalscorer they need right now
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He takes over the baton handed to him by self-styled football guru Todd Boehly, who declared himself Chelsea’s ‘acting director of football’ almost immediately after arriving.
Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku were clearly not the answer. But only one Chelsea player has scored more than Lukaku, two seasons ago. I know they have invested in Nicolas Jackson’s potential, but when you spend a billion, as Chelsea did, you should sign players for today, not sometime in the future.
When building a team, people say, “You build from behind,” but that’s not entirely true. When you score goals there is constant confidence in the team and you can make plays even if the rest of the team is not up to scratch. Liverpool don’t have to play well every week to win because they have firepower – just like when I played for the club.
Time will tell if Mauricio can sort things out. Of course he comes with a decent CV. He hasn’t won much – just the one title in France with PSG – but he understands the English game well and ‘plays the right way’, whatever that means. (I always thought the “right way” was to just win football games.)
He deserved a lot of credit from his time at Spurs, even if he didn’t actually win anything there. There he was blessed with some of the Lady Luck that all managers need. There was a young man named ‘Harry’… and the rest is history! Kane scored 32 goals in Mauricio’s first season. Yes, there is always a lot of luck involved.
Mauricio Pochettino is under increasing pressure as his side continue to struggle
The Blues suffered a 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final
It seems they have no real leaders. Connor Gallagher has been captain on and off and when you watch him play there is nothing not to like. Technically good. Good athlete. Great attitude. But is there that presence in the locker room and beyond, where others would see him as their leader?
We’re now hearing that Chelsea may have to sell players to comply with Financial Fair Play, which brings us back to all the money they spent without buying a striker. How on earth do you manage to spend a whopping $1 billion while failing to secure the most important raw material – and then having to ship even more? Incredible! Congratulations, Mr. Boehly.
Chelsea have gone from a team that won trophies almost every year to their current level: a mid-range club. I don’t see this being the quick fix that Chelsea fans expect. It all makes for dangerous territory for Mauricio. He’ll need all the happiness he can find.
TOP FIVE RED STRIKERS
There has been discussion on the Mail’s It’s All Kicking Off podcast about who the five best Liverpool strikers of all time are. That’s my kind of conversation!
Ian Rush and Mo Salah are popular choices, and both Roger Hunt and Luis Suarez have to be in my five. I’m not including my old teammate Kenny Dalglish because he was one of the early false nines, rather than a true striker.
Fernando Torres should also be left out of the discussion as he was not at the same level. And that brings me to Robbie Fowler. Robbie was the ultimate fox in the box and a fantastic goalscorer, who I decided to give his debut against Chelsea in September 1993.
There was some resistance from my colleagues at the time, but I told them, ‘He’s ready.’ He had the courage. He had the technique. And that sixth sense for a striker: being in the right place at the right time.
He and Rushie scored many goals in the same way, appearing to pass the ball into the net. They didn’t have to destroy it because of that sixth sense: correct time; right place.
It took a while for Rushie to gain that confidence, even though it didn’t matter if he missed. Robbie had that from the day he was born. That complete Scouse self-belief. I’m going to have complete doubts about which of Rushie, Robbie, Roger, Luis or Mo was the best. Any team would want them all.
Robbie Fowler was the ultimate fox in the box and a fantastic goalscorer for Liverpool
LEVY HAS NOT CHANGE HIS PLACES
Spurs made their purchase earlier than usual in January, with Timo Werner and Radu Dragusin both already signed from RB Leipzig and Genoa.
But I don’t see this as evidence that Daniel Levy has changed his position and is no longer leaving things to the end of the window. He left early for several reasons.
Son Heung-min has left for the Asian Cup for four weeks and Werner is a like-for-like, in terms of pace and versatility on the front line. Although in terms of overall quality, Son operates in a different world.
Clubs would not have lined up for Werner. And there was competition from Bayern Munich for Dragusin.
Levy would have preferred to stick to his normal modus operandi, but in both cases he was forced to operate differently.
Despite Spurs’ early spending, this does not prove that Daniel Levy has changed his position
Gunners don’t shoot
Watching Arsenal spurn so many chances against Liverpool last weekend reinforced everything I felt about their lack of goalscorers.
Four months ago I said on these pages that you don’t pay £65m for Kai Havertz based on what he has shown on the pitch for Chelsea. I still think he lacks the basic ingredients you need to be a goalscorer: courage, aggression and willingness to go to bat to score a goal. I’ve never seen that intensity in him, at Chelsea or Arsenal.
If your attackers don’t score the goals, you need midfielders, and there are not enough of them.
I really like Declan Rice. I wasn’t being personal or overly critical when I said here that I would like to see him score more goals to take his game to the next level – something Mikel himself reiterated at Christmas. Arsenal have fewer Premier League goals than all but one of the top seven players. They need more from that midfield.
The Gunners missed several chances when they lost to Liverpool in the FA Cup
HENDERSON DECIDED TO GO
The heat in Saudi Arabia will have come as no surprise to Jordan Henderson. The poor quality of the competition and opposition won’t do that either.
Given the money on offer, I could have tolerated both had I been at the end of my career. On a football level, he must have found it easy.
But I was in his shoes, I couldn’t have stayed if my family was unhappy. That’s the only thing that can make you want to break that contract, as he now seems determined to do.