Exclusive: “Many players are sad” at Pochettino’s surprise Chelsea exit, says Fabrizio Romano

Fabrizio Romano says many Chelsea players are sad at the somewhat surprising news that Mauricio Pochettino has left his position as Blues manager.

Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column, Romano made it clear that there was a feeling of surprise in the Chelsea dressing room after yesterday’s announcement that Pochettino would be leaving Stamford Bridge.

The Argentine did a decent job in difficult circumstances at Chelsea, and it seems his work was appreciated by a number of the players at the club, with Nicolas Jackson notably seeming to criticise the decision on social media.

Romano says that the feeling was pretty tense between Pochettino and other Chelsea figures for some time, so it perhaps makes sense that this decision was made, as it’s not only the players that need to be considered.

Pochettino exit saddens and surprises Chelsea players

Discussing the situation at CFC, Romano said: “It was a complicated decision and the end of the season was very positive for Chelsea, but Pochettino also spoke recently and suggested he wasn’t feeling that confidence from people at the club.

“From what I’m hearing, the reaction inside the dressing room is that the players are quite surprised. The feeling was that the end of the season was sending a clear message, and that you could see the results of the entire season together between Pochettino and these players, so many of them were expecting the manager to stay.

“Many players are sad, some are surprised, but it’s also part of the game when a manager is not staying at the club…I can understand that.

“Still, it’s not just about the relationship with the players, there also had to be the right feeling between the manager and other figures at the club.”