Abramovich Would Have Sacked Pochettino By Now, Says Mikel Obi
Former Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi has opined that Mauricio Pochettino would have been sacked by Roman Abramovich by now.
Pochettino is enduring a tough debut season in charge of the Blues.
Chelsea are currently residing in the bottom half of the Premier League table and lost the Carabao Cup final to Liverpool last week.
Mikel believes Pochettino needs time to put his ideas across but reckons former owner Abramovich would not have afforded him that luxury had he still been bankrolling the club.
Abramovich ceded control of Chelsea to Todd Boehly in the summer of 2022 after 19 years which brought a huge turnover of managers and 21 major trophies.
“Some of the criticism has been over the top, but we went through the same thing playing for Chelsea when we were not winning, getting criticised and watching managers losing their jobs,” Mikel, who won 10 major honours in his nine-year spell at Chelsea, told Standard Sport.
“This is Chelsea. You have to win. You have to win games and trophies. Yes, we’ve given them time, but they have had time to start gelling, coming together, and playing much better.
“I defend the players and coach. They have to be given time, but how much time? This is Chelsea FC.
“If this was the [Roman] Abramovich era, he would have lost his job, but I hope the new owners give Poch time. Let’s see where we finish at the end of the season.
“The final would have given him breathing space but now we need a run of winning games to see where we end up finishing. Then it will be up to the owners to make a decision.”
