Mauricio Pochettino has named his first XI since being made the new Chelsea boss and it has some surprise names included. Before he gets to work officially as the third permanent head coach under Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital, he has other endeavours to sort out.
On Sunday he takes charge of the Soccer Aid World XI at Old Trafford in the 2023 edition of the yearly charity event and has timed his appearance to perfection. It will come just under three weeks before he gets to the crux of working with his new club.
In an ironic match-up, Pochettino is going head-to-head with Chelsea women's manager Emma Hayes, as she looks after the English XI. It is Pochettino's line-up that has attracted the most attention, though, with fans already quick to analyse his style.
With former England and Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster in net, the new Wrexham star has quite the backline ahead of him. Heather O'Reilly starts with Sam Claflin, Roberto Carlos and Mo Gilligan in defence.
Noah Beck is in midfield alongside Patrice Evra, Maise Adam and Usain Bolt, while Francesco Totti and Hernan Crespo finish the team. Although it is a bit early to make too many decisions over Pochettino's tactical decisions at Chelsea, his choice to seemingly go with a 4-4-2 for his first match back in England is one that fans are already intrigued by.
The side he will face has been picked by Stormzy as well as Hayes, with the XI for England being: David James; Gary Neville, Gary Cahill, Bugzy Malone, Tom Hiddleston; Joel Corry, Jill Scott, Jack Wilshere; Tom Grennan, Liam Payne, Jermain Defoe.
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As well as looking to provide a grand spectacle for the watching fans and also play for a brilliant cause, raising money for UNICEF, Pochettino will soon have his mind set on clearing out a very different squad in a different setting.
He will be tasked with selling as many as 15 players this summer in order to cut down his bloated squad massively ahead of pre-season and the tour of America next month. Chelsea are also looking to make big-name additions in key areas of the squad including in goal, midfield and up-front.
It is a big job on the hands of Pochettino but one he is set to embrace having had similar success in a similar position at Tottenham nearly 10 years ago. Chelsea will be hoping that not only can he achieve this but also that he can get a potentially comedic confidence boost under his belt in Soccer Aid too.
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