Mauricio Pochettino is expected to be in London this week having come to an agreement with Chelsea to become their next permanent boss. Like his predecessors, he will arrive into his first summer in the job with plenty of work to do.
The Argentinian boss may arrive with a more difficult job than most however with a bloated squad that is destined for a bottom-half finish come the end of the season. In many senses, it may have looked like a more appealing job in September when Chelsea first spoke to Pochettino but even then there were no shortage of underlying issues.
The summer will provide a fresh start to the whole club as the end of 2022/23 approaches and the club's owners reach their first anniversary of the takeover with 12 months of experience which should leave them more informed. Nevertheless, a tumultuous few months await to get the Blues back into shape.
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football.london takes a look at the first tasks Pochettino will undertake when he looks to get set up at Stamford Bridge and Cobham.
Trim the squad - There is no arguing against the fact Chelsea's squad is too big. Too many players are left out of matchday squads, too many players were left out of the Champions League squad following the January transfer window and too many don't have a future with the Blues. Add that to the fact Mauricio Pochettino has an inclination to use a smaller group of players and there is no European football to rely upon for rotation.
While some players will be provided an opportunity, Pochettino and the club's sporting directors will have to quickly identify who no longer has a future at the club to start forming the squad for next term. That will include a host of loan players who have not been at the club for the duration of the tenures of the likes Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.
This has been an issue at Chelsea for a number of seasons and saw Emerson Palmieri, Ross Barkley and Michy Batshuayi take up space in Chelsea's first-team preparations in pre-season for much longer than they should have, given they had no future in the team. Others will be in their situation this summer, and the problem has been exacerbated by so many additions in the last 12 months.
Mould Chelsea's next captain - Another problem that has been brewing at Chelsea is their succession of leaders in the squad. Cesar Azpilicueta extended his deal to continue as captain last summer but is now a far cry from the first XI and could once again see his future speculated upon come the summer. Thiago Silva and Mateo Kovacic have both worn the captain's armband and the former once again has a year remaining on his deal while the latter could move on from west London in the coming months. N'Golo Kante has also had the honour to lead the team this term and is set to run out of contract this summer, though he is expected to extend his stay, while Jorginho has also had the responsibility before departing in January. Likewise, Kepa has worn the armband and his future is far from secure moving forwards.
There will be contenders in the form of Mason Mount and Reece James to don the captaincy but the Blues lack a clearcut candidate and perhaps lack enough leaders in the dressing room. Pochettino will have to identify a group he trusts and can help mould moving forwards and perhaps impress that onto those looking for Chelsea's next signings.
Fix the fitness - Frank Lampard's early time in charge of the Blues was characterised by his revelation that the Chelsea squad lacked the capacity to compete across 90 minutes. The Blue boss was blunt in his assessment after Brighton.
He said: "A yard short, a tackle short, a fighting duel moment short and when that's not right you're not going to win games. You have to have the capacity to do that as well as the desire and at the minute we're falling short on that and need to turn it around quickly."
That is not something that can be allowed to continue. Pochettino has high standards for the intensity his teams play at and what he expects in training and must swiftly impress that upon the squad.
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