Mark Langdon: Mauricio Pochettino is getting an easy ride

Liverpool's thrashing of Chelsea on Wednesday showcased the Reds' title credentials and gave evidence if any was needed that Jurgen Klopp's announcement regarding his departure at Anfield will have no immediate impact on the quad-chasing Merseysiders.

It was a fantastic performance from Liverpool and Chelsea were lucky to get out with a 4-1 margin of defeat. Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino admitted "in all areas they were better than us".

Liverpool finished with 28 shots to Chelsea's four, Darwin Nunez had his own quadruple in mind, hitting the woodwork on four occasions, and the shots-on-target tally ended up 13-3 in favour of Klopp's side, who warmed up beautifully for Sunday's potential humdinger with Arsenal.

All the post-match focus was on Liverpool, but it used to be big news when Chelsea lost a game, never mind one in this manner and, had a team such as Manchester United been on the wrong end of the scoreline, it's easy to imagine the flak heading the way of Erik ten Hag.

Pochettino is a season behind Ten Hag in terms of development, but even so Chelsea should not be stuck in tenth spot in the Premier League and the Argentinian appears to be getting a free pass given he has overseen a return of 31 points from 22 fixtures. If they carry on at this rate Chelsea will end up on 53 points and there will be no European qualification via the league once again.

Admittedly, that would still be nine points more than last season's shambles, but that 12th-place finish was supposed to have been the nadir, not the norm, and since the start of last term Chelsea have won only 20 of 60 Premier League matches to become a bog-standard mid-table team.

Poch is 25-1 in the sack race and has a cup final to enjoy - if that's the right word considering it's a rematch with Liverpool - this month and a possibly pivotal FA Cup replay at Aston Villa on Wednesday. But the league should always be where a team of Chelsea's stature are judged and they have a tricky run coming up.

It's Wolves at home followed by four away games in five heading into the March international break and that includes trips to Manchester City and Arsenal. Chelsea's character is rightly being questioned following six away losses in seven and the only Stamford Bridge fixture after Wolves is against improving Newcastle.

Clearly, a billion quid doesn't get you much these days and the decision to sign so many players on lengthy contracts to try to find an edge on financial fair play means this squad is likely to remain in place for the rest of the decade. Great news for meme creators, less good for Chelsea loyalists.

They desperately need to shift players out but sustainability rules are clearly hitting in the Premier League and January's outlay was the lowest since 2012 (excluding the Covid year) while Chelsea went from demanding £50m for Armando Broja earlier in the month to accepting Fulham's loan offer close to Thursday's deadline. 

Broja has had a serious knee injury, scored five goals in the last two years and they put a £50m price on his head. Who did they think was buying him? Chelsea?

That muddled thinking and chaotic transfer approach does not make it easy for Pochettino, but he knew what he was signing up for and while Chelsea are potentially stuck with the playing squad they are able to roll the managerial dice with more freedom.

With that in mind, Pochettino does not appear to be a significant upgrade on Graham Potter so why is he getting so much more of an easy ride?  

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