Does Mauricio Pochettino Need to Switch to a Back Four at Chelsea?

Gabriel Agbonlahor has slammed Mykhailo Mudryk for his ‘absolutely useless’ cameo against Nottingham Forest and feels Mauricio Pochettino needs to change his Chelsea formation.

Despite a mammoth summer spending spree, the west Londoners suffered their second defeat of the season at home to Forest on Saturday after Anthony Elanga netted shortly after half-time in a shock 1-0 win for the visitors.

Similarly to their defeat to West Ham, Chelsea dominated possession with 77% of the ball and had 21 shots but just two were on target.

Mudryk Struggles to Impact the Game

Forest had chances to extend their lead with Elanga hitting the post after Mudryk gave away the ball and Agbonlahor feels the Ukrainian is simply not at the level required, while he also believes Pochettino’s formation is a problem.

‘What I don’t understand with Chelsea is that they had 21 shots and guess how many on target? Two,’ said Agbonlahor on talkSPORT shortly after the game.

‘They’re getting into the positions but they just don’t have the quality and it seems to be a theme now. You look on social media and the story is that Chelsea sign players but they lose games.’

Mudryk came on in the 77th minute and struggled to impact the game. ‘He was absolutely useless. He’s had 19 games, zero goals and they haven’t got a style of play.’

Pochettino Needs to Change His Formation

Agbonlahor believes that Pochettino needs to switch to a back four. ‘Today it was five at the back or three centre-halves. They have Gallagher who doesn’t score goals in there and it’s slow. Caicedo made two mistakes in there, they’re changing formations again – why not start with a back four?’

The former Villa striker also believes that Chelsea need to invest in some star players if they are to challenge for major honours. ‘No disrespect to Nottingham Forest, but you should be playing four at the back against them and yes, Pochettino might think that he’s got time but carry on losing, let’s see if the Chelsea fans give you time.’

He continued: ‘They’ve spent £1billion. Why didn’t Chelsea use a quarter of that money and go out and buy a star? Go and give Paris Saint-Germain an offer for Mbappe that they can’t refuse. Harry Kane, “There you go, Daniel Levy. Whatever you want”. £150million for Harry Kane and you’ve got two superstars. They’ve bought loads of players who are average.’

Conclusion

It remains to be seen whether or not Mauricio Pochettino will switch to a back four at Chelsea, but it is clear that he needs to find a way to get the best out of his players if he is to turn around their fortunes this season. The Blues have spent big this summer, but they need to find a way to get the most out of their signings if they are to challenge for major honours.