File picture of Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino, who has left the Premier League club
| Photo Credit: AP

Mauricio Pochettino has left his job as Chelsea manager by mutual consent after one season in charge, the Premier League club announced on Tuesday.

“On behalf of everyone at Chelsea, we would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season,” sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said in a statement.

“He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career.”

Pochettino joined Chelsea ahead of the 2023-24 season when he replaced interim manager Frank Lampard as the club’s new owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital looked to freshen things up at Stamford Bridge after finishing 12th in the previous campaign.

Although Chelsea started the season poorly and found themselves in the bottom half of the standings despite spending more than any club in Europe, Pochettino managed to guide the London club to sixth in the Premier League standings.

Speculation had been rife that the former Paris St Germain and Tottenham Hotspur boss would be gone after just one year in charge but Pochettino remained tight-lipped about his future when asked after their final game of the season on Sunday.

“Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and sporting directors for the opportunity to be part of this football club’s history,” Pochettino said on Tuesday.

“The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come.”

File picture of Arne Slot coaching Dutch side Feyenoord. Slot replaces Jurgen Klopp as manager of Liverpool
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Arne Slot will take on one of the most daunting challenges in football by replacing Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager.

Slot was confirmed on Monday after he signed a long-term contract with the six-time European Cup winner and 19-time English champion.

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He will follow in the footsteps of an Anfield icon in Klopp, who ended Liverpool’s 30-year wait for the English title in 2020 and won a full set of major trophies in his time at the Merseyside club.

Slot comes in with a winning record of his own after leading Feyenoord to the Dutch title last year and following that with the Dutch Cup this season.

He will formally take up his role on June 1 and his contract runs through to 2027, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details of the contract have not been made public.

Slot’s appointment was expected for some time, as the 45-year-old Dutchman said he was in talks with Liverpool in April and announced he would be Klopp’s successor last week.

Slot has coached Feyenoord since 2021 and was previously with AZ Alkmaar. His work with both clubs has seen his reputation rise for his coaching methods and achievements in a short time.

Klopp’s legacy

Klopp stunned the world of football when he declared in January he would step down at the end of the season. The German established himself as one of the finest managers of his generation.

He won the Champions League in 2019, the Premier League in 2020, and the English League Cup and FA Cup in 2022. He departed with one final trophy, the League Cup in February.

Under his watch, Liverpool also won the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup and was a beaten finalist in two more Champions Leagues.

Liverpool took its time identifying Klopp’s successor.

Michael Edwards, its former sporting director, returned in March as chief executive of football for the club’s American owners Fenway Sports Group and led the search.

Edwards was a key figure in Klopp’s success — overseeing the signings of star players like Mohamed Salah, Alisson Becker, and Virgil van Dijk.

Liverpool fans can only hope he is as adept at identifying coaching talent after putting his faith in Slot.

Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso was a leading contender for the job until he announced in March he was staying at Bayern Leverkusen after its unbeaten run to the German title.

Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim was among other potential candidates.

Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp hugs goalscorer Harvey Elliott as he leaves the pitch during the English Premier League match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, on May 5, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The smile is back on Jurgen Klopp’s face — even if his Liverpool players seem intent on testing his nerves right to the end.

The Premier League title may be all but beyond the Merseyside club, but that doesn’t mean the drama is over for Klopp, who will step down at the end of the season.

Last week he was arguing on the sideline with Mohamed Salah as Liverpool effectively dropped out of the title race. And while Salah opened the scoring in a 4-2 win against Tottenham at Anfield on Sunday, it was Harvey Elliott who appeared to bring the broadest smile to Klopp’s face with a wonderful long-range goal in what looked like being a cakewalk for Klopp’s team.

“What a goal,” the Liverpool manager said. “In the game you only see it flying in and I thought, That was a good shot.’ The goal I saw afterwards, there was not a lot of space left or right. It went exactly where it should be be. Top goal.”

Elliott’s strike, after goals from Salah, Andy Robertson and Cody Gakpo, fired Liverpool into a 4-0 lead before the game had even reached the hour mark. What followed was the unlikeliest of fightbacks from Spurs that might have made this another frustrating day in what has ultimately been a disappointing finale for Klopp at the end of nearly nine trophy-filled years.

Goals from Richarlison and Son Heung-min made it a much closer contest than it had ever looked like being. And it needed two outstanding saves from Alisson, a goal-line clearance from Joe Gomez and a VAR call to prevent it from being closer still.

“It’s a little bit of a mirror of the season. Really, really, really, good until we were really rubbish and then, we were okay again,” Klopp said.

A nervy finish didn’t stop the home fans from beckoning Klopp to produce his trademark post-match triple fist pump to the crowd after his penultimate home game in charge, with Feyenoord coach Arne Slot set to take over next season.

Mathematically, at least, it is not over for third-place Liverpool, which sits five points adrift of leader Arsenal with two games remaining. But, in reality, a late-season slump has killed Klopp’s hopes of walking away with a second Premier League crown of his reign.

His team had been heavily rebuilt over the past two seasons and was not expected to contend at the top so soon. But this season at one point offered Liverpool the hope of a quadruple of trophies. Now it feels like it is ending on an underwhelming note.

Still, Klopp, who delivered the English League Cup in February, will walk away from a team that is on the up and leave his successor with plenty of young talent to work with.

The 21-year-old Elliott is a prime example and he showcased his ample potential with an assist and a goal as Liverpool threatened to run riot.

His perfectly placed curling cross provided Gakpo with the simple task of heading in Liverpool’s third and then he swept an unstoppable shot from around 20 yards (meters) into the top corner and beyond Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

“Harvey is exceptional. Still so young. So exceptional,” Klopp said. “In the midfield position, it was probably one of the top three performances from him today. The goal was exceptional. Everyone needs moments to gain more confidence. It was a good moment. That helps definitely.”

Aston Villa slips

A bad week for Aston Villa got worse after a surprise 1-0 loss at Brighton.

Unai Emery’s team lost 4-2 at home to Olympiakos in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semifinal on Thursday. And on a day when it could have secured its place in next season’s Champions League, it suffered another setback when Joao Pedro headed home a rebound in the 87th after seeing his penalty saved by Robin Olsen.

Only Spurs’ loss at Anfield prevented it from being a bigger blow after the result at the Amex Stadium had given Ange Postecoglou’s team hope in its pursuit of Villa in fourth.

But Villa still missed out on the chance of making certain of a top-four finish.

Chelsea routs West Ham

Chelsea’s troubled season could still end on something of a high after Mauricio Pochettino’s team boosted its chances of European soccer next season with a 5-0 rout of West Ham.

The win at Stamford Bridge moved Chelsea up to seventh in the standings and two points behind sixth-place Newcastle. Only the top six teams in the Premier League will be guaranteed a place in Europe next season.

“We need to keep this momentum and belief going,” Pochettino said.

While Chelsea’s exorbitant spending under U.S. owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital was supposed to put the 2021 Champions League winner back in contention for the biggest prizes, qualification for Europe would represent progress after finishing in the bottom half of the table last year and another season of struggle this term.

After a morale-boosting 2-0 win against Tottenham on Thursday, Chelsea followed it up by thrashing West Ham.

Nicolas Jackson scored twice in the second half after Chelsea had raced to a 3-0 lead by the break through goals from Cole Palmer, Conor Gallagher and Noni Madueke.