‘Mouricio Pochettino doesn’t know how to coach a big club, otherwise why would you keep a player like Him on the bench when he want sto win games against Brentford that have Ivan Toney with straight 5 home wins?’ Arsenal Manager Manager Mikel ARTETA, refers to Pochettino as a ‘BABY COACH’ for benching the £75 million star in Brentford draw yesterday

Chelsea great John Obi Mikel has sent a strong warning to Mauricio Pochettino about his future at Stamford Bridge. The Blues manager has faced criticism on multiple times during his first season at the club, with Chelsea remaining in mid-table despite Pochettino’s success in cup tournaments.

Earlier this week, only a few days after losing the Carabao Cup final to Liverpool in heartbreaking fashion, Chelsea defeated Leeds United to go to the FA Cup quarter-finals. The Blues will now face Leicester City in the following round, after avoiding Manchester City and Liverpool in the draw.

Winning that competition is likely to be Chelsea’s sole hope of ensuring European football for next season, with 17 points separating them from the top four and nine from the top six. Before getting into Pochettino’s spell in west London, Mikel provided his thoughts on Chelsea securing some type of European football.

“Of course, the top four is out of reach,” he told Standard Sport. “I would consider qualifying for the Europa League to be a significant improvement; however, in order to do so, we must develop and go on a winning streak. The Europa League would be a huge accomplishment, and we can build on it. “The final was an enormous disappointment.”

If Chelsea does qualify for Europe, Pochettino may not be the man to lead the charge, with Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali expected to make decisions on their futures this summer. With that in mind, Mikel shared his thoughts on Pochettino’s predicament at the club, including a devastating admission.

“Some of the criticism has been over the top, but we went through the same thing playing for Chelsea when we were not winning, getting criticised and watching managers losing their jobs,” he went on to say. “This is Chelsea.” You need to win. You need to win games and trophies. Yes, we have given them time, but they have begun to gel, come together, and play much better.

“I defend the players and the coach. They need to be given time, but how much? This is Chelsea FC. If this were the [Roman] Abramovich era, he would have lost his job, but I hope the new owners give Poch a chance. Let’s see where we stand at the end of the season.

“The final would have given him breathing space, but now we need a string of victories to see where we end up. The owners will then have to make a decision.

Mikel makes brutal. Mauricio Pochettino dismisses admission with Chelsea ultimatum.