Joe Cole admits he ‘feels sorry’ for Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea – ‘The club is very unstable’

The former Tottenham boss arrived in London in the summer after the sacking of Graham Potter last season and Frank Lampard’s interim spell in charge to a club that Cole says is “very unstable” and that has lost its connection with the fans.

“I feel sorry for Mauricio, same as I felt sorry for Frank [Lampard], I felt sorry for [Graham] Potter and Thomas Tuchel, because they’re all top managers, and you’re coming into a club which is very, very unstable,” Cole said, live on TNT Sports.

“The new owners have come in, and they’ve been in there a while now. And one of the points we’ve said, we want stability, continuity, but it’s one thing saying we’re going to have these things as our culture, but then on the flip side, you’re changing managers at strange times, the planning on signing players is not being explained to the fans or even explained to the players or the manager.

“So I feel sorry for the coaches, and their heads ultimately will roll like the previous managers before them, but if you’re going to have these things that you live and die by – this is what we are at Chelsea, we’re going to grow young players, we’re going to do stick with the managers – then you’ve got to live them values every day.

“I said when Mauricio come in, I thought he was an outstanding manager, perfect [to] rebuild the club. But you have to remember the connection. He will be seen with Tottenham.

“I said if Chelsea have a difficult start to the season these fans… fans are tribal by nature so they’re frustrated and they’re lashing out on Mauricio and ultimately, he’s trying his best, the players are trying their best, but there’s just something that isn’t quite right yet.”

Todd Boehly bought the club in May of 2022 and has tied multiple players down to significantly long contracts.

It’s a strategy that has left Cole confused, and the former Chelsea player has called for more accountability to be taken and a better structure to be formed to help the club improve results on the pitch after falling to 11th in the Premier League after 10 games.

“I don’t know the structure. I know there’s three or four guys on recruitment, there’s a couple that do this and do that,” Cole added.

“Todd Boehly was here last year and now he’s taken a backseat, so you don’t see him at the stadium. Ultimately communication isn’t getting where it needs to get with the fans.”

“And it’s no good us coming on here and say it and saying, you know, [they] need to do better. It’s the people in charge that need to start making better decisions when it comes to recruitment, when it comes to what we are, and just living them things.

“Let’s get Chelsea on the right path again, let’s talk to the right people. Let’s make sure that we’re doing things correctly [and] let’s explain that to the fans. Then things will eventually calm down and the players will be able to breathe on the pitch and not look like they was at times today – nervous, apprehensive.

“Ultimately, you need to get 11 players, 15 once you’ve made your subs, and they need to be confident and they need to be feeling like they’re part of something, like the Brentford players are at differing levels, but got to come from the structure and I do feel for Mauricio. I really do.”

Alongside Cole, Eni Aluko was equally frustrated but admitted she has “more faith in recruitment.”

The Blues have scored just 13 Premier League goals from 10 games and Aluko thinks Pochettino should dip into the transfer market in January and buy Victor Osimhem from Napoli.

“I think Chelsea need to get a striker in January,” Aluko said. “I think that could solve a lot of problems because when you look at it, they’re creating chances, whether it’s Arsenal last week or today, they’re creating chances.

“But they need a striker, whether it’s Victor Osimhen, whether they do everything they can to get somebody like Victor Osimhen who’s fallen out with his club at Napoli. Go and get him.”

Peter Crouch echoed those sentiments, adding that he had been left baffled at the lack of options Chelsea have up front given the amount of money that has been spent on the squad.

“I don’t know how you spend that amount of money and you end up with [Conor] Gallagher and Cole Palmer against Arsenal – as well as they did and they’re great players in their own right – as your centre forward,” Crouch said.

“Nicolas Jackson, let’s be honest, he’s not going to be the answer long term. He does a lot of great work outside the box but is he going to get you 15/20 goals? I don’t think so.

“There’s players that they’ve signed, and it does look better, the midfield’s totally been reshaped and looks good, but how you end up with no centre forward when you’ve spent that amount of money just baffles me.”