Chelsea Manager Mauricio Pochettino watches on
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has been told to ‘upgrade’ the number 10 position at Stamford Bridge, with former Blues player Pat Nevin questioning why the club missed out on new Tottenham star James Maddison.
Chelsea are expected to improve on last season’s 12th-placed finish after another big summer of spending, plus the fact the Blues are not in any European competition. However, Pochettino has yet to get his team firing as they have won just one of their six league games so far.
Chelsea have created a host of chances but have missed plenty of them, with striker Nicolas Jackson at fault for a large part of that profligacy.
Chelsea’s poor results and performances have got some pundits and fans wondering whether the West London outfit might axe Pochettino, despite having put him in place to lead their project for the long run.
Nevin, who made 135 appearances for Chelsea between 1983 and 1988, has now given his verdict on Chelsea’s problems. The former winger namechecked Tottenham’s Maddison and City duo Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne when discussing Chelsea’s need for a playmaker.
“Chelsea will have a lot of options, but they’ve already signed a huge amount of players,” Nevin said in an interview with OLBG (via football.london).
“They also have [Christopher] Nkunku to come back and I think [Armando] Broja will shock everyone. Before his injury, a lot of people thought he was the answer. He’s still young, has a great build, and has plenty of potential.
“Chelsea will know more about those two by January. If I was looking at the squad, I’d upgrade the number 10 position. I really wanted the club to move for Maddison as I love creative midfielders as I was one myself.
“Players like Maddison, Foden, and De Bruyne are hard to find, and Chelsea have had a lot of them over the years. I was upset to see Joao Felix go as I thought he was fabulous. Pochettino probably made the decision to not keep him, but I thought he could’ve been central to the squad. Just look at his form at Barcelona!”
