Mauricio Pochettino, manager of the US national team and former Chelsea manager, argues that Chelsea should be stripped of their 2016-17 Premier League title due to financial rule violations. On September 12 Beijing time, Riath Al-Samarrai, chief sports columnist for the Daily Mail, published a column offering detailed analysis of this issue, covering data analysis, transfers, and more. Al-Samarrai stated that many of Chelsea's points that season were earned thanks to "problematic signings," and Pochettino's remarks are completely justified.

Column

Mauricio Pochettino's outburst against Chelsea this week was entirely justified. The fact is, Chelsea's 2016-17 Premier League title, which they won ahead of his Tottenham Hotspur side, was built on rule violations that Chelsea themselves admitted to.

By Pochettino's logic, Chelsea should have been stripped of the trophy. But we all know that didn't happen: Chelsea voluntarily disclosed secret payments totaling over £47 million to unregistered agents and third parties, yet ultimately received only a symbolic punishment—less than a slap on the wrist; it was barely a tickle.

The total fine of around £20 million, agreed upon by the Premier League and Football Association earlier this year, was barely more than the compensation Chelsea received from Manchester City for their sacked manager. As punishment, it was even softer and more absurd than a ridiculously soft penalty kick.

We all know why: after Chelsea proactively disclosed past financial violations, the governing bodies praised their "willingness to cooperate." I read the Football Association's 63-page written statement, in which the committee heaped praise on Chelsea's "honesty."

However, Chelsea's current ownership has not faced sporting sanctions for violations committed by the previous owner (during Roman Abramovich's time). The reason given by the governing bodies is that many violations between 2009 and 2022 occurred under Abramovich's ownership, and they cannot excessively punish the current holding group BlueCo.

As a result, Chelsea not only avoided deduction of any points but retained all three Premier League titles won during that period intact. Pochettino finds this absurd, and it truly is. When we count the irregularly signed players—Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto'o, Willian, Ramires, David Luiz, André Schürrle, Nemanja Matić—the "absurdity" becomes "outrageous."

Three years ago, when Chelsea first voluntarily disclosed this issue, I wrote a detailed article discussing the problem. At that time, and following Pochettino's recent outburst, public attention has focused largely on Eden Hazard.

In the 2016-17 season when Chelsea won the title, Eden Hazard scored 16 league goals, which proved decisive in Chelsea finishing seven points ahead of Tottenham Hotspur in May.

In 2012, Chelsea improperly lured Eden Hazard from Manchester United. These irregular financial arrangements paid dividends that season and in many subsequent seasons.

A Times report last year made clear that Manchester United's negotiations with Lille fell through because United refused to pay unofficial agent commissions that would have breached regulations; Eden Hazard ultimately moved to Stamford Bridge for £32 million, and history tells us the £20 million fine is negligible compared to the value he delivered to Chelsea.

But that's all about Eden Hazard. What about Willian? Let's focus on Willian.

Why him specifically? Because his irregular transfer directly affected Tottenham Hotspur—in August 2013, Tottenham was close to signing him.

He spent eight hours at Tottenham's training ground and even passed a medical examination. But then everything changed abruptly: he got in a car and headed straight to Chelsea. It turned out that Abramovich himself had called Suleiman Kerimov, owner of Anzhi Makhachkala and fellow oligarch, and redirected Willian's transfer.

This deal was one of the irregular transactions also mentioned in Football Association documents this summer, though the names of Chelsea officials involved were redacted. The official believed losing Willian would be a "huge loss," and if Willian had moved to Tottenham Hotspur it would have been "adding insult to injury."

Pochettino was not managing Tottenham Hotspur when this interception occurred, but he was their manager in the 2016-17 season. And that season, Willian, like Eden Hazard, was in outstanding form under Antonio Conte. I've outlined some of his key contributions—those decisive performances that turned defeats into draws and draws into wins, which are quantifiable.

First, let's look at the match against Hull City in October 2016: Willian struck a world-class shot from outside the penalty area, scoring Chelsea's opening goal, ultimately leading to a 2-0 victory; two months later against Manchester City, when the score was 1-1, Willian raced past Nicolas Otamendi as usual, reached the ball first, and then calmly finished, helping Chelsea secure a win.

Against Sunderland he provided an assist to help the team snatch victory when the score was level; in the 4-2 victory over Stoke City he scored the decisive goals for 2-1 and 3-2; and in the return away match against Sunderland he scored the opening goal.

The away match against Sunderland was a comprehensive victory, and of course, we cannot make precise counterfactuals: perhaps another player could have performed equally well.

But such vague excuses only fool lawyers and listening committees. We observers see clearly: Willian at his peak could single-handedly change the course of a match; finding a replacement would have required someone of exceptional talent.

By our estimate, this replacement's contribution would have been worth 13 points. Recall, Chelsea's lead over Tottenham Hotspur at that time was 7 points, yet Chelsea received no sporting sanctions.

Pochettino's fury is entirely understandable. Had he recalled the FA Cup semi-final that season, he would likely be even angrier—Willian scored the opening two goals in Chelsea's 4-2 victory and was named man of the match by our Daily Mail sports department. The other two goals? Scored by Matić and Eden Hazard, who were also irregularly signed. In that victory, all goals were scored by starting "problem players"; it was not a clean victory.

When Pochettino spoke this week, he made a less emotional but very powerful statement: "If the rules were consistent, we could have signed some players to make the team stronger and score more goals. I'm not complaining, it's a fact."

This statement easily brings Willian back to mind. And mentioning Willian recalls other seasons—for example, in September of the 2015-16 season against Newcastle he scored an equalizing goal in the 86th minute, and Newcastle ultimately was relegated by a two-point margin.

It is extremely difficult to correct these major or minor on-field impacts retroactively. But then to conclude "sporting sanctions are unnecessary" is entirely illogical.

Perhaps the governing bodies don't want to trigger a chain reaction, perhaps they're unwilling to asterisk past league tables, or perhaps while we await how the Premier League handles the far larger case of Manchester City's violations, discussing all this is pointless.

But Pochettino is absolutely right when he says this is "wrong." His only mistake is assuming common sense still applies in his industry.

Переведено ИИ.

Сайт AF теперь доступен! Читайте полные новости, комментарии, детали матчей и статистику на компьютере. Посетите: www.allfootballapp.com