Most managers will take a break once another Premier League season ends to unwind for a few weeks before preparing for the following one. But work has already begun for new Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino.


The Argentine will find his in-tray full when he enters his opulent office at Chelsea's Cobham training facility.


The Premier League's 12th-place result for Chelsea was their poorest since 1994, which is hardly what the club's new co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali had in mind when they took over following the abrupt fall of the Roman Abramovich empire.


They approved spending of about 600 million pounds to swell a squad that has shown to be much less effective than the sum of its extremely pricey pieces.


This season has been marked by a series of disappointing results, resulting in the sackings of two managers. Thomas Tuchel, who had previously achieved success by winning the Champions League, was dismissed in September. Graham Potter, the man believed to align with the club's "vision," faced a similar fate after just 31 games in charge.

Amidst this turmoil, former club legend Frank Lampard stepped in as the interim manager to guide the team through the remainder of the season. However, his tenure proved to be challenging, as he managed only a solitary victory in nine Premier League matches at the helm. The ship, which was already listing, struggled to find stability under Lampard's leadership.

The disappointments on the field have left fans, and stakeholders disheartened, and the club now faces the arduous task of finding a manager who can steer them toward success and restore the club's former glory.



No blame will be attached to Lampard, but for American Boehly, the appointment of the man known in the British media as "Poch" simply has to work.


Which is why the summer recess will be crucial for the west London club if they are to re-establish themselves as potential challengers to Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and even Newcastle United next season.


On the plus side for former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris St Germain coach Pochettino, he takes over with the club at such a low ebb that logic suggests things can only get better.


But he still faces many challenges to make that happen.


Firstly, he must forge a workable team in his own image from a bloated squad that needs serious pruning in the coming weeks as the club seeks to lower its wage bill.


Pochettino was widely praised for his work at Tottenham where he revived a similarly under-performing club and turned them into title contenders and Champions League finalists, although he left without winning any silverware.


The former defender from Argentina is renowned for his proactive, high-pressing style of play and appears to be the perfect fit for the job at Stamford Bridge, but he will need to plug the gaps left by the team's haphazard approach to player acquisition.


Strangely, despite their extravagant expenditures, Chelsea have not fully replaced Antonio Rudiger at center back or addressed their lack of a great striker.


N'Golo Kante, a central midfield dynamo, is no longer the same player he once was, while Mason Mount is reportedly close to departing the team despite fans' wishes for him to stay.


Pochettino also needs to make the most of his young compatriot Enzo Fernandez, a World Cup-winning midfielder who cost a British record 106 million pounds to acquire but who has been stymied by the mediocrity surrounding him.


Most importantly, Pochettino will want complete control over everything that occurs on the field and he won't appreciate the hands-on style Boehly used during Potter's brief administration.


To the dismay of Tottenham fans who thought he would return to north London, Chelsea appear to have found the right guy to help them out of the hole they have dug for themselves. Nevertheless, the clock is ticking and there is little time to waste.