Exclusive names the 3 players which caused the argument which led to Pochettino departure | OneFootball

Our writer Simon Phillips’ exclusive this morning is jam packed full of sourced information about the departure of Mauricio Pochettino from Chelsea.

Gradually we’re piecing together the story bit by bit, and there are some interesting details coming out now.

The initially mystifying decision to get rid of him seems to be down to a disagreement in terms of the overall strategy. Phillips points out that there were “big disagreements” about the departures of certain players.

He names three – Conor Gallagher, Trevoh Chalobah and Marc Cucurella. Pochettino wanted to keep them all, while the club insist they have to go. Given that fundamental gap on what direction they should be going in, and given the gap would only widen, splitting was the only thing that made sense.

The decision to part ways was apparently made after the Arsenal game – which must have made it awkward for the sporting directors as they watched Pochettino’s team win 5 and draw 1 of the 6 matches which followed, making their decision look worse and worse with every 3 points tacked on.

Behdad Eghbali and Mauricio Pochettino

A good time to escape for the manager

We’re not surprised that Pochettino decided to take a stand over this. It’s one thing to agree to let the sporting directors manage transfers, it’s quite another to watch 3 of your regular starters and most experienced players from a ridiculously young squad be sold just to fund the purchases of more South American wonderkids.

Clearly the coach could see the direction this was heading – the prioritisation of profit over success at every turn. Given he thought he’d not damaged his reputation, he was pretty happy to shake hands and depart knowing that other opportunities with more sensible owners would likely be around the corner. That final run of games must have been as satisfying for him as it was uncomfortable for the sporting directors.