Mauricio Pochettino stops Gary Neville in his tracks as he's pressed on Chelsea drama

Mauricio Pochettino has called on Chelsea's owners to "explain the plan" amid mounting criticism over the Blues' vision and transfer strategy since the Todd Boehly-led takeover. US businessman Boehly and global investment firm Clearlake Capital joined forces in 2022 to purchase Chelsea in a deal valued at £4.25 billion. The consortium, later dubbed BlueCo, assumed control of the west London club after former owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK government over alleged ties to Vladimir Putin following Russia's invasion of Ukraine . In the four years that have followed, progress has been minimal at best. The opening season under BlueCo's stewardship proved to be a catastrophe, with the Blues cycling through four different managers including Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, failing to claim a single piece of silverware and finishing 12th in the Premier League . Having rounded off that campaign with Frank Lampard in a caretaker capacity, Pochettino was named as the club's new permanent head coach in May 2023. Despite steering the side to a Carabao Cup final, an FA Cup semi-final and a sixth-place Premier League finish, Pochettino departed and was succeeded by Enzo Maresca. The season that followed did bring greater fortune for BlueCo and Chelsea, as Maresca led them to their first major piece of silverware in four years in the Conference League, before subsequently clinching the Club World Cup. However, following an inconsistent start to the 2025/26 campaign, Maresca was dismissed in January of this year. Liam Rosenior subsequently took the reins after catching the eye at sister club Strasbourg, but his tenure proved to be a catastrophe and he parted ways with the Blues last week following three consecutive defeats. Despite BlueCo splashing out more than £1.5bn on transfers during their four years at the helm, Chelsea supporters have grown increasingly exasperated by the lack of progress and silverware since the American consortium took over at Stamford Bridge. Indeed, with the club firmly committed to a strategy of recruiting younger players and tying them down to lengthy contracts in the hope they'll develop into world-class talents, Chelsea's squad is notably short on experience. This has led some fans to question whether Chelsea's BlueCo ownership actually have a 'plan' to restore the club to its former glories - and now Pochettino has weighed in with his own assessment. When quizzed about whether BlueCo have a 'plan' on The Overlap's Stick to Football alongside Gary Neville , Ian Wright, Jill Scott and Roy Keane , Pochettino said: "I think they have a plan, it's completely different to what was Chelsea in the past with [Roman] Abramovich. It's true that it's not easy because it's difficult for people to understand. "In a new project, I am thinking, 'how can we show the plan and what can we achieve with that'. Sometimes in football it's difficult to explain because the only people that listen are in the boardroom, but there are too many people making decisions. Football is not an ordinary business and sometimes people struggle. But I think they (Chelsea's owners) need to explain the plan." When quizzed on whether he had a grasp of the Chelsea blueprint, Pochettino responded: "What I understood didn't happen after." Neville attempted to push Pochettino further on his response, but Ian Wright could see that the Argentine was uneasy discussing the matter and moved to intervene. Pochettino, though, pressed on: "Chelsea was about winning, you can't go in there and finish in a certain position and accept it. It was about winning. In the past, they won Champions Leagues, had the best and most experienced players. But that was a completely different project. The people need to explain the plan and how it's different. "When we arrived the team was 12th in the Premier League, we didn't play in Europe, we was in the process between one ownership group to another and there were things we needed to put in place," he continued. "Why I think I am disappointed with things internally is that under our assessment and our vision, it was a normal process to create something solid for the future. We wanted to add quality but not as quick as the people wanted to go. We finished sixth winning the last five or six games, we arrived to the final of the Carabao Cup, we played Manchester City in the semi-final of the FA Cup, in both games we deserved to win. But because of experience we didn't win. I felt we were in a good trajectory and our vision was heading in the right direction." Despite the upheaval, Chelsea still have silverware within their sights before the curtain comes down on this campaign, with the Blues — currently guided by interim head coach Calum McFarlane - set to face Manchester City in next month's FA Cup final. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.