Mauricio Pochettino wants Chelsea injury crisis considered in crunch talks over future
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Mauricio Pochettino wants Chelsea’s extensive injury problems factored into the post-season talks that will determine his future at the club.
The Blues boss remains in the dark over his future, which will be decided in a meeting between the coaching staff, the club’s owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali and sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart.
The Argentine’s position is vulnerable should Chelsea miss out on European qualification, having failed to win a trophy in his first season at Stamford Bridge.
Injuries will be a major item on the agenda in the discussions and Pochettino wants them to be taken into consideration should he be deemed to have underperformed.
The Blues won 5-0 at home to West Ham on Sunday to stay in the chase for Europe. They welcomed back several injured stars, including Thiago Silva and Christopher Nkunku, but still remain without eight players in total.
Pochettino had never had fewer than six players out injured at one time in his managerial career but has been without up to 14 at the height of an ongoing Chelsea injury crisis, which began before he took charge.
Pochettino is expected to detail how he was aware of potential issues after mapping his players’ injury records before taking the job.
He attempted to rectify the low fitness levels of players not used to the demands of the Premier League and those lacking from a chaotic last season through a rigorous pre-season fitness programme in the United States, which included a series of gruelling running tests.
But there was already an awareness that Chelsea couldn’t play with the same intensity that Pochettino’s Tottenham and Southampton teams had in the past.
Despite an approach that includes detailed personal programmes and monitoring to improve injury prevention, Chelsea have suffered significant injury problems for the third season running.
Pochettino has repeatedly been asked whether club medical staff have underperformed but refused to blame any individuals at the club.
There is believed to be a good relationship between the coaching staff and medical staff, who have taken pride in players such as Nicolas Jackson, Moises Caicedo, Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer being able to deliver full campaigns.
There remain plans to bring in a hamstring injury specialist, but the medical department is increasingly settled after replacing more than half the staff last season.
Chelsea have, however, advertised for a new head of performance medicine after former medical director Dimitrios Kalogiannidis left the club after 14 years. Physiotherapist Steve Hughes also left last month after 22 years in west London.
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