Pochettino, the US national team coach and former Tottenham Hotspur manager, claims that Chelsea's 2016-17 Premier League title should be stripped due to their financial regulation breaches. On September 12, Beijing Time (CEST), Riath Al-Smarrai, a senior sports columnist for the Daily Mail, published a column analyzing the issue in detail, covering data analysis, transfers, and other aspects. Al-Smarrai stated that Chelsea's points that season were largely contributed by "problematic players," and Pochettino's argument is entirely reasonable.

Column

Mauricio Pochettino's sharp criticism of Chelsea this week is entirely justified. The fact is—in 2017, Chelsea beat Pochettino's Tottenham Hotspur to win the Premier League title, and the foundation of this success was built on irregular operations, which Chelsea has admitted themselves.

By Pochettino's logic, Chelsea should have been stripped of that championship trophy. But we all know that didn't happen: Chelsea voluntarily revealed that they had covertly paid over £47 million to unregistered agents and third parties, yet received only a symbolic punishment—more like a slap on the wrist, or rather, a light pinch.

The total fine of around £20 million agreed upon by the Premier League and FA earlier this year was scarcely larger than the compensation Chelsea received from Manchester City for their sacked manager. As a punishment, it was even weaker and more absurd than a completely missed Panenka penalty.

We all know why: after Chelsea voluntarily disclosed the irregularities in their historical financial reports, the authorities praised their "cooperative attitude." I read the FA's 63-page written statement, in which the committee lavished praise on Chelsea's "honesty."

However, Chelsea's current management faced no sporting sanctions for the previous owner's violations (during Roman Abramovich's era). The rationale was that numerous breaches between 2009 and 2022 occurred under Abramovich, and they could not excessively punish Chelsea's current parent company (BlueCo).

As a result, Chelsea not only received no points deduction but also retained all three Premier League titles won during that period. Pochettino views this as nonsensical, and it truly is. When we account for the illegally recruited players—Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto'o, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, André Schürrle, Nemanja Matic—this "nonsense" becomes even more egregious.

I wrote a detailed article addressing this issue when Chelsea first disclosed it three years ago. Then, and following Pochettino's recent outburst, public attention has centered largely on Hazard.

In the 2016-17 season when Chelsea won the title, Hazard scored 16 league goals, and these goals were decisive in Chelsea finishing 7 points clear of Tottenham Hotspur in May.

In 2012, Chelsea illegally acquired Hazard from Lille. This illicit investment paid enormous dividends that season and many seasons thereafter.

A report in The Times last year explicitly showed that at the time, negotiations between Manchester United and Lille broke down because Manchester United refused to make off-the-books payments to a certain agent, which would violate regulations; ultimately, Hazard moved to Stamford Bridge for £32 million, and history tells us that a £20 million fine is insignificant compared to the value he brought to Chelsea.

But all of the above concerns Hazard. What about Willian? Let's discuss Willian alone.

Why him? Because his irregular transfer was directly linked to Tottenham Hotspur—in August 2013, Tottenham nearly signed him.

He spent 8 hours at Tottenham's training ground and even completed his medical examination. But then everything changed dramatically: he got in a car and headed straight to Chelsea. It turned out that Abramovich himself had called Suleyman Kerimov, owner of Anzhi Makhachkala and fellow oligarch, and forcibly diverted Willian's transfer.

This deal was one of the irregular operations and was mentioned in the FA documents from early summer this year, though the names of relevant Chelsea officials were redacted. These officials believed that losing Willian would be a "huge loss," and if Willian went to Tottenham Hotspur, it would be "adding insult to injury."

Pochettino was not Tottenham's manager when this "theft" occurred, but he became their manager by the 2016-17 season. And that season, Willian, like Hazard, was in peak form under Antonio Conte. I have outlined some of his key contributions—crucial performances that turned defeats into draws, or draws into wins, which can be quantified.

First, consider the match against Hull City in October 2016: Willian unleashed a world-class strike from outside the box, scoring Chelsea's opening goal, and the team won 2-0; two months later, against Manchester City, with the score at 1-1, Willian darted past Nicolas Otamendi, regained possession as usual, then calmly slotted the ball home to secure Chelsea's victory.

Against Sunderland, he provided an assist, helping the team come from behind to win; in the 4-2 victory over Stoke City, he scored a crucial goal to make it 2-1 and then 3-2; and in the away match against Sunderland again, he scored the opening goal.

The away match against Sunderland was a big win, and of course we cannot make definitive claims: perhaps another player could have performed similarly.

But such vague rhetoric only tricks lawyers and hearing committees. And we observers all saw it: Willian at his peak could single-handedly change the course of a match, and finding a replacement would require someone with exceptional ability.

We estimate that such a replacement's contribution would be worth 13 points. Again, Chelsea's margin over Tottenham Hotspur at the time was 7 points, yet Chelsea received no sporting sanctions whatsoever.

Pochettino's anger is entirely understandable. Had he won the FA Cup semi-final that season, he might have been even angrier—Willian scored both opening goals in the 4-2 victory and was named man of the match by our Daily Mail sports department. The other two goals? Scored by Matic and Hazard, both also illegally recruited players. In this victory, the "problematic players" in the starting XI scored all the goals, making the win far from glorious.

When Pochettino spoke this week, he said something that sounded less emotional but carried far greater impact: "If the rules were applied consistently, we might have been able to sign a few more players to strengthen the team and score more goals. I'm not complaining—these are the facts."

This statement easily brings to mind Willian. And speaking of Willian, it also reminds us of other seasons—for example, in September 2015-16 against Newcastle, he scored the equalizer in the 86th minute, and Newcastle were ultimately relegated by 2 points.

It is extremely difficult to assess the magnitude of such on-field impacts after the fact. But concluding that "no sporting sanctions are necessary" is entirely illogical.

Perhaps the authorities didn't want to set off a chain reaction, or perhaps they were unwilling to put an asterisk on past league tables, or perhaps while we await how the Premier League handles Manchester City's far more serious violations, discussing all this is pointless.

But Pochettino is absolutely right that this is "not fair." His only mistake was assuming that common sense still prevails in his industry.

Diterjemahkan oleh AI.

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