News
Mauricio Pochettino posts social media update amid Chelsea talks over head coach vacancy
Mauricio Pochettino has taken to social media after reports suggested Chelsea were planning to hold further talks with him over the head coach job at Stamford Bridge.
The former Spurs manager is a contender to take over in west London after the departure of Graham Potter earlier this month, which has seen Frank Lampard land the job on an interim basis until the end of the season.
Despite holding in-person talks in the English capital with Luis Enrique, the Spaniard is claimed to be an outsider for the post, with Julian Nagelsmann still in contention to lead the Blues next season.
An approach was made with Pochettino and further talks are expected with both the Argentine and Nagelsmann as Chelsea whittle their shortlist down and advance with their thorough and exhaustive search.
When further talks will be held remains unclear, but Pochettino took to social media on Thursday to post an update of his life.
As work continues, led by co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, on the manager search, Lampard and his side trained at Cobham on Friday morning despite not having a game this weekend due to Manchester United’s FA Cup semi-final involvement at Wembley.
The Chelsea caretaker boss confirmed after their 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday night that the players would receive Wednesday off before returning to Cobham to continue preparations ahead of facing Brentford next week.
He said: “The players now is a day off tomorrow and back to work on Thursday and get working towards Brentford.”
With Chelsea currently 11th in the Premier League and having nothing to now play for other than pride, Lampard doesn’t want the standards to drop between now and the end of the season.
“We are playing for Chelsea,” responded the 44-year-old on what Chelsea are playing for in their final seven Premier League matches.
“The players that train hard, show the performances like today, all those things, are the ones that will deserve to play. I have to judge that in terms of competition.
“To play for Chelsea is not a gift, you have to earn it. That should always be the rule.”