Emmanuel Petit: Pochettino Sacking Will Disrupt Chelsea

Former Chelsea midfielder Emmanuel Petit has expressed his disappointment at Mauricio Pochettino’s exit as the club’s manager in an exclusive interview with Gambling.com.

Chelsea surprisingly parted ways with the Argentine at the end of the Premier League season, after a strong run of form had seen the Blues finish sixth.

Enzo Maresca has been chosen as his replacement and the UK betting sites currently offer odds of 6/4 on Chelsea finishing in the top four next term.

But Petit admits he was frustrated to see Pochettino depart after a positive end to the campaign. 

“I’m very disappointed,” he said. “I still don’t know what the board wants to do. 

"I have respect for what they have done so far, splashing more than £1bn or so in the transfer market and they have tried to buy so many young, talented players, but I’ve been told they may have to sell Conor Gallagher for FFP, I just don’t get it. 

“I know it was a difficult season for Pochettino, but the last few months the team has improved a lot and you can see some individuals were much happier than at the start of the season. 

“I was thinking, give him a chance to continue to work with his staff. I think the change of manager, with a new philosophy, the change of players coming in and out of the club, will disrupt the stability.

“They will repeat the same cycle over and over again, and it doesn’t work like that, so they need to learn from it.

“This isn’t like American sports, it doesn’t work like that, you need stability so I was very disappointed Pochettino left the club.” 

Chelsea are 20/1 on football betting sites to win the Premier League for the sixth time and their first since the 2016/17 season. Do they have the right man in place to bring glory back to Stamford Bridge?

Maresca led Leicester City to the Championship title in 2023/24, his first full season as a first-team manager following a brief stint at Parma in 2021. 

The Italian previously worked under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, but Petit believes there are still question marks over Maresca.

“He did a great job with Leicester but I was told that the fans were not happy with his style of play, playing out from the back," the Frenchman added.

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"This is fashionable nowadays but you need to get the right players to do that.

“Winning the Championship with Leicester wasn’t a big surprise as they had the quality and the structure to do it, so I want to see what Maresca can do in the Premier League. 

“The preparation of the team will be difficult as it could take weeks with players going away on holiday and on training camps, as well as players involved in the Euros, so it comes back to the question of why Pochettino was sacked. 

“He had stability and knew the players well after a year there so there are many things I don’t understand with Chelsea at the moment.”

Maresca will hope there is money to spend in the summer transfer market, but as Petit said, Chelsea may need to raise funds in order to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.

Connor Gallagher is one player being linked with the exit door, but Petit believes it would be a mistake for Chelsea to sell a homegrown talent.

Betting apps price Gallagher at 2/5 to still be a Chelsea player after the summer transfer window, with Aston Villa listed at 11/2. 

“I think it [selling Gallagher] is the wrong decision, he’s English!” Petit said. “It’s important for the fans. There are so many foreign players at Chelsea. 

"I’ve been at the club so I know that it is important for the fans to have English players at the club. 

“They will get money for Gallagher but he is one of their best players! They can afford to sell four or five other players in the team easily.”

The Blues will get their 2024/25 Premier League campaign under way at home to Manchester City on August 18. 

Maresca will then take his team to Molineux to face Wolves, before ending the month with a London derby against Crystal Palace. Chelsea's opening six league games are ranked the seventh most difficult based on last season's league positions.