Now World ViewMauricio Pochettino fires Chelsea brutally honest message as Enzo Maresca decision explained
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Mauricio Pochettino has explained why he parted ways with Chelsea. The former Tottenham Hotspur boss left Stamford Bridge by mutual consent at the end of last season after no more than 12 months in charge.
Pochettino led the Blues to the Carabao Cup final and the FA Cup semi-finals, before ending the Premier League campaign in sixth place. The 53-year-old enjoyed a brilliant end to his tenure in west London, winning each of his last five games to clinch European football.
However, unfortunately for Pochettino, the promising signs came a little too late. Upon stepping down as head coach, the Argentinean said: "Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and the sporting directors for the opportunity to be part of this football club's history. The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come.”
Then, speaking to Sky Sports, Pochettino added: “I think always when something doesn’t work it’s better to stop and to look at different things and I think it was the best decision for both sides. Yes, I think both sides are happy to split and then to be open to see different options, and different options appear.”
Shortly after leaving Chelsea, Pochettino was appointed as the head coach of the United States Men’s National Team ahead of their home World Cup in 2026. That tournament will be played in the States, Canada and Mexico.
On his next challenge, Pochettino continued: "Maybe it's not easy for the people to understand why. I think being the national coach or head coach of the USA with the World Cup in 2026, I think for a coaching staff like us, after too many years working in clubs, I think it was a great opportunity for us to challenge ourselves, and to know how to discover and to learn doing things in different ways.
"I think it was a great opportunity and that is why we started to pay attention and when the offer arrived, I think it was easy to say yes. I think to host the World Cup is an amazing experience.
"Then with the country that we are talking about, the USA, I think it's amazing."
Pochettino went on: "Too many good things appear in this moment and of course one of the reasons to take the job was because hosting the World Cup is very close. It isn't waiting four years to play the World Cup – it was less than two years. I'm so excited because I think the decision was good.
"I'm enjoying it a lot and I think it's so exciting to discover every single day different things to work on and different emotions. It's a completely different job than in the past, a mystery because it's a completely different world but I think we are really, really enjoying that situation."
Enzo Maresca quickly replaced Pochettino at Stamford Bridge – signing a five-year deal with an option to extend for a further 12 months. Unlike he predecessor, the Italian has managed to keep Chelsea in the race for Champions League qualification.
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