27 September 2023 , 19:36
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Gary Neville has called for Mauricio Pochettino to keep his job at Chelsea despite a disappointing start to the season, with Roy Keane putting the blame on Todd Boehly instead.
The former Manchester United mainstays sympathised with the size of the job facing the Argentine coach at Stamford Bridge, despite a rocky start. After spending nearly £1billion in the transfer market in the past year, the Blues have managed one win in their first six games of the new league season.
They have signed a whopping 27 new players since Clearlake Capital's takeover fifteen months ago but progress on the pitch has been evasive so far. In their first season, Chelsea's new owners sacked Graham Potter, before appointing interim boss Frank Lampard - who led them to a lowly 12th-placed last term.
Now, Neville and Keane have expressed their understanding of the complexities of new head coach Pochettino's remit. During a roundtable discussion on the Stick to Football Overlap podcast, the pundit duo joined Jamie Carragher, Jill Scott and Ian Wright the subject of Chelsea's ongoing woes.
Keane was unequivocal in his view that the sheer volume of the turnover of players at the Bridge has proven detrimental for the club in the past year, saying: "It doesn't help, it certainly doesn't help. Without making excuses it can have an affect on the dressing and the energy at the club, the leadership.
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"But you always want the players when the whistle goes. The only thing I would say is that when you bring in that many players together, I've never experienced. It's strange that I'm actually talking about it, I cannot imagine when we were at the club three or four new players would come in and it takes them time to adapt."
The former Old Trafford captain's words appeared to chime with that of Carragher, who was in agreement, adding: "We've all been in successful teams, yeah you need top players but you need a connection in the dressing room, a connection with the manager, a connection with the crowd. How can that ever happen at Chelsea, I just don't see it."
(PA)For Neville, he feels the problems at Chelsea are down to the culture set from those at the top, with the team's on-pitch struggles a reflection of in-house turmoil. The former England right-back said: "I think it's cultural, when you see what's happened at [Manchester] United and Chelsea there are so many similarities. They're ruining players that they've signed as good players.
"These players and coaches have come to United and been ruined and it's happening at Chelsea over the past 12 to 18 months with [Graham] Potter, with [Frank] Lampard. Pochettino we know is a fantastic coach but he's struggling at the start as well. Surely that comes culturally from the top?"
Responding to a question from Lionesses legend Scott regarding the likelihood of Pochettino keeping his job beyond this season, the former Red Devils stalwart added: ""They'll have to give him time. Pochettino has to have time."