Mauricio Pochettino understands that times have changed since he took over at Tottenham near on 10 years ago. At that point he was the new kid on the block, treated with caution but excitement.
Before the Argentine Spurs had finished in the top four twice in their history of the Premier League and never higher. By the time he left the club in 2019 they had qualified for the Champions League for four years in a row and had been a top-three side on three occasions, including as runners-up in 2016/17.
His first two years brought about little immediate improvement though. In his first season, Tottenham won the same amount of games, 21, but lost three more and finished three points worse off, scoring fewer goals and conceding more.
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From then on the changes were unprecedented for the club. The goal difference went up nearly seven-fold and over the next two years Spurs recorded their top two points totals in history. On a shoestring budget at times, working with net profits and young players, Pochettino effectively worked a miracle.
Chelsea rarely give much thought to sob stories such as this, though. During that time the Blues won the league three times and blew their rivals out of the water financially, boasting the intangible knowhow that their counterparts seemingly didn't have.
Was Pochettino too weak? Did he lack the cliched winning instinct? Or had he in fact just reached the end of a long and successful tenure, one that had been attracting the attention of Roman Abramovich's serial winning ability.
Success has different forms. Chelsea, for nearly two decades, have had it in the purest form. Now they are about to embrace different methods and a new style of coaching with a near-opposite track record. The good is that Pochettino appears a mixture of the Graham Potter gradual improvement and high ceiling but also has the cut-throat Jose Mourinho-isms so desired by fans.
Pochettino, having grown frustrated at the lack of backing at Spurs during the stadium move, had run his course. Going from there to Paris Saint-Germain might have shocked many. "Always, you dream of the perfect club, the perfect project," he has said.
"I'm very open to wait for the seduction of the project rather than the country. It's about the club and about the people, the human dimension."
Chelsea need to offer him these things if the relationship is to blossom. Coming back to London, back to the Premier League, is a big win for both but there are further agreements that need to be made. PSG were described as 'the perfect offer, the perfect project for us' in 2021, Chelsea don't want to be the new PSG but do need to harness what Pochettino enjoyed about his time there.
"We feel something special we didn't feel when we had conversations with different clubs. We took the decision with our heart," he said. The French giants are closer to old Chelsea than new Chelsea but his more recent quotes from an interview in Spain give reason to believe his goals are still closely aligned with the Blues' owners.
"Today, talking about projects in football is very difficult," he said Pochettino in November. "There are few lucky ones who can be involved in a project in the medium or long term.." He also made references to the growing demands of modern football and the decreasing patience.
These things straddle Chelsea and sum up the crossroads they are at. Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali want to create a long-term project (whatever that actually means) but also know the pressure that an expectant Stamford Bridge crowd has.
Pochettino is better for having managed PSG in the madhouse but his time in north London also prepare him for the long haul. "The experience we needed," he said of the time in France. "Living with big stars and interacting at the top level of football."
Chelsea need both his stability over several years and his man-management of stars, albeit younger ones than PSG had to offer. If they can hand him the time, the project and former Spurs chief scout Steve Hitchen, as it is said he is keen to, then the Blues may have just found their dream man.
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