In his five years at Tottenham Hotspur, Mauricio Pochettino was able to create a clear brand of football while making the club a serious competitor in Europe.
Just months before his dismissal at Spurs, the Argentine coach took his side to a Champions League final, only to be beaten 2-0 by Premier League rivals Liverpool in Madrid. So when he was let go by the ruthless Daniel Levy, it did surprise a lot of people.
But Pochettino showed at Tottenham, just as he did with Southampton prior to his move to north London, his brilliance in creating a new identity with a group of players. Pochettino is often praised for his expertise in man-management with his ability to get the best out of his players on the pitch very impressive.
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The Argentine has also shown his ability to create a clear identity of football when at a club, something Chelsea absolutely do not have at the moment. Graham Potter tried and ultimately failed, while Frank Lampard won't be at Stamford Bridge long enough to make a long-term impression.
Pochettino will need the help of the Chelsea owners and the board, though, as he made perfectly clear when talking about his time with Tottenham about two and a half years ago. The former Spurs boss explained how he ended up getting a successful formula in north London and how it took time in order to do so.
"We spent a little bit more time at Southampton [to get methods across]," Pochettino explained on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football in 2020. "Southampton was different from Tottenham.
"When we arrived at Tottenham, the circumstances were completely different. Tottenham was a team with 33 players, a team trying to create some identity, to change the period they were dealing with until then and to try to develop a different way to approach the games.
"For us Tottenham was an amazing journey, more than five years, that we really enjoyed from day one. People like Joe Lewis, the owner, Daniel Levy and all the board and all the people on the staff, that was helping from day one, helping us to be successful. And then the players – they were amazing too.
"We found a group with different habits. The players are not responsible for the habits they adopt. Always it is who leads the club, who leads the companies – today football clubs are companies – you need to be strong in how you want to create the habits and to translate the principles to your team.
"The players are important because the principles are taken onto the pitch. Then you need to create the line from the top and be strong in your principles and the way you are going to develop, for the thing to happen in the way you want.
"I think it was amazing to have this possibility, to feel free, to create something special in Tottenham. Changes always is painful, really painful. But when you arrive at a new club you need to make some changes. You need to start to build. That is why it's so important to create that big platform. The coaching staff is about creating the platform where the players can feel comfortable and can improve."
If Pochettino does end up being appointed Chelsea head coach, as expected, then he is going to need the full backing from the club's board, something Graham Potter didn't really have. He may have in terms of money spent on new players, but when results didn't go his way, he ended up being sacked. Pochettino will make progress at Chelsea but it could take time in order for the Argentinian to get his ideas across on the pitch.
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