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Mauricio Pochettino looks lost both tactically and mentally – is time up?

Boos ringing from your own supporters at the end of a home game usually spells danger and surely, the thoughts of firing Mauricio Pochettino should be lingering in the minds of the Chelsea hierarchy.

Back-to-back embarrassing defeats is not an experience many Chelsea fans are accustomed to and the distasteful reactions from the fans at the Bridge reminded the coaching staff and players that standards cannot be allowed to drop this lowly.

With performances at an all-time low, is it the right time to relieve Mauricio Pochettino of his job?

Poor tactical plans, flawed team structures and insistence on playing some players despite their unsuitability against certain opponents, it wouldn’t be too harsh to pull the trigger on Pochettino’s contract now.

As much as I personally want Pochettino to succeed, it has become impossible to continue to defend him due to his constant mis-profiling.

Today against Wolves, it looked pretty certain that Gary O’Neil was going to set his team up to defend with a back-5 and rely on the speed and strength of Neto and Cunha on transitions.

Knowing fully well O’Neil was going to set-up this way, it was a huge surprise to see Poch start 39 year-old Thiago Silva.

A faithful servant no doubt, Thiago Silva is far away from his usual self and standards he has set all through his career.

Aside from his old age, Silva has never liked defending wider areas and with O’Neil spotting that weakness, the Wolves manager tactically outwitted Pochettino by deploying wide attackers instead (Sarabia, Neto and Cunha).

Cunha and Sarabia played in the half spaces while Neto looked to drag Thiago wide all game long.

Losing smart tactical battles like today have become a reoccurring issue with Pochettino and the Argentine’s reading of the game and spotting of tactical weakness has become his Achilles-heel.

However, in Pochettino’s defence, Chelsea has struggled to keep her best players fit (Recce James, Chris Nkunku and Chilwell) and having to constantly shuffle and change the team has affected the team’s overall outward view.

Considering how hard the Premier League are beginning to stamp on teams that fall defaulter of the FFP rules, it’ll be a huge problem if Chelsea miss out on European football for back-to-back seasons.

So the question; Should Pochettino be sacked now or keep till the end of the season?

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