BREAKING NEWS: “Pochettino is in an interesting place because they lost the League Cup [final], now they’re in the semi-finals of the FA Cup,’-Ian Wright explains the only way Mauricio Pochettino can save his job at Chelsea
Ian Wright believes Mauricio Pochettino is fighting a losing battle at Chelsea but can buy himself more time at Stamford Bridge by guiding the Blues to FA Cup glory.
Chelsea laboured into the semi-finals of the FA Cup last weekend with a nervy 4-2 win over Championship side Leicester City.
Pochettino’s side were in complete control at the break, leading 2-0 thanks to goals from Marc Cucurella and Cole Palmer, but the Foxes were back level midway through the second half after Axel Disasi scored a comedy own goal and Stephy Mavididi curled a precise strike past Robert Sanchez.
Leicester were reduced to ten men when Callum Doyle clipped Nicolas Jackson with 20 minutes remaining but were still on course to take big-spending Chelsea to extra-time until
Chelsea, bidding to win their ninth FA Cup and first since 2018, will face English and European champions Manchester City next, with Manchester United meeting Coventry City in the other semi-final tie.
Wright acknowledges it will be ‘so tough’ for Chelsea to get past Man City but says winning the FA Cup could be the only thing that prevents Pochettino from getting the sack.
Chelsea’s poor domestic form has continued in Pochettino’s first season at Stamford Bridge and the Blues, who have spent over £1billion on new signings under Todd Boehly, sit in the bottom-half of the table with 11 games to play.
Pochettino is in an interesting place because they lost the League Cup [final], now they’re in the semi-finals of the FA Cup,’ Wright said on his Ringer FC podcast.
‘If they can get through that then Poch might get the time. Everything seems to be turning against him and we don’t know what Chelsea is turning up so I feel like this is so vital for him and that Chelsea job.
‘He’s under pressure to win it. Because he hasn’t won enough stuff Chelsea fans thought he didn’t deal with the League Cup final and didn’t know how to win and make the subs needed to win.
‘Those things are going to be levelled against him, especially because they’ve got Manchester City next. He’s got to beat Man City. It’s so tough but he has to.’
Chelsea, who finished 12th in the Premier League last season, resume their faltering 2023-24 campaign on March 30 against relegation-battlers Burnley.
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