Chelsea are making moves. The Blues had a 2022/23 season to forget for multiple reasons. Todd Boehly purchased Chelsea FC for a record deal in football history after Roman Abramovich decided to sell the club due to ongoing tension between Russia and Ukraine.
Since then Boehly has made major changes to the club, but many of them have failed to show results both on and off the pitch. The Stamford Bridge outfit started the season with Thomas Tuchel as their manager. But after an indifferent start, the American owner decided to part ways with the German and hired Brighton’s Graham Potter on a lucrative deal.
After an impressive first few outings with the Blues in both the Premier League and the Champions League, Potter and Chelsea suffered a dip in form. This continued and results on the pitch continued to be inconsistent.
The plethora of signings in the 2023 January transfer window did not help, with Boehly signing 11 new players in the winter. This caused massive squad bloating and made Potter’s job even more difficult.
What happened next was the most evident thing – fans starting to turn on both Boehly and Potter – which eventually led to the sacking of the English manager after just six months in charge of Chelsea.
Frank Lampard was hired as interim coach till the end of the season, which hardly made a difference to the Blues’ results. The former Everton boss won just one of his 11 matches as caretaker manager which speaks volumes of Chelsea’s disastrous season.
The West London club appointed Mauricio Pochettino as their next long-term coach after an exhaustive search. Pochettino’s style of play will suit Chelsea according to many experts given how he developed Spurs into a force to be reckoned with in Europe.
The Argentine will start his new role from July 1, 2023 and will bring him his trusted men in the backroom staff – including his own son – Sebastiano Pochettino. But who is he and who else joins the Blues’ coaching staff?
🚨 OFFICIAL: POCHETTINO JOINS CHELSEA ✅
Mauricio Pochettino has signed a 3-year contract for the Blues & will begin his role next week ✍️💯#Chelsea #CFC #Pochettino pic.twitter.com/uZPt6u2LSN
— FootTheBall FC (@FootTheBallFC) May 28, 2023
Who is Sebastiano Pochettino?
Sebastiano Pochettino is the son of new Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino. He is a 28-year-old sports scientist who has been part of Mauricio’s coaching setup since his Southampton coaching days.
Sebastiano started his career with the Saints coaching setup alongside his father. But before that, while Mauricio was in his initial coaching days at St. Mary’s, Sebastiano was still learning a thing or two about Applied Sports Science from Southampton Solent University.
The Argentine Sports Scientist has a specialization degree in strength and conditioning which helps players with injury prevention. After building some experience, Sebastiano started working alongside Pochettino at Spurs as Assistant Sports Scientist, where he was then promoted to first-team fitness coach at Spurs in 2017.
He earned a lot of praise from senior key figures at both Spurs and Southampton and also earned the trust of the players in the process. He gradually earned a prominent role in the dugout and attended matches in the stadium for Spurs and PSG.
Mauricio Pochettino’s son is also expected to play a similar role to the one he has alongside his father in previous clubs. Considering Chelsea’s injury record in the last few seasons, this move should prove to be a masterstroke.
Chelsea’s coaching staff
Jesus Perez – Assistant manager
Mauricio Pochettino has described Jesus Perez as “the man he trusts the most” alongside his wife Karina Pochettino. The Spaniard wasn’t initially in Poch’s coaching setup back in 2010. The duo met during Pochettino’s Espanyol days, where Jesus Perez was appointed as Head Coach of the U21 team.
Since then the pair have been together at Espanyol, Southampton, Spurs, PSG and now at Chelsea as well. Perez is known as the fitness expert in Poch’s backroom staff. His gruelling regimes and training sessions have been beneficial in the development of the like sof Luke Shaw and Harry Kane.
Miguel D’Agostino – First Team Coach
Miguel D’Agostino, also known as Miki has known Pochettino since their playing days at Newell Old Boys. They were close friends back then and formed a formidable centre-back partnership at the Argentinian club.
Miki and Pochettino started working together as coaches in 2009, when D’Agostino started filming his team’s training sessions and analysing player progress.
Toni Jimenez – Goalkeeper coach
Jimenez will join Chelsea as their goalkeeper coach as he has in Pochettiono’s coaching setup since 2011. The pair completed their coaching badges together and started working at Espanyol in 2011, and have since been together.
Mauricio Pochettino’s sons
Mauricio Pochettino has two sons with his wife Karina Pochettino. One of them – is Sebastiano Pochettino who is the elder son and has worked with his father since 2016.
Mauricio also has a younger son – Maurizio Pochettino who is a professional footballer at Spanish club Gimnastic Tarragona.