"The first thing everybody does is say, 'oh sack the manager, he can't be good enough'. These players who are going on the pitch are the ones who are getting beaten 5-0," Paul Merson told Sky Sports about another season of mediocrity for Chelsea.
"For me, I don't know what goes on behind the scenes, but they spent a lot of money and signed a lot of players on seven-year contracts that are nowhere near good enough, not even close to being good enough. It's frustrating and it gives me the hump.
"I don't know what Mauricio Pochettino can do. He's got players on seven-year contracts, eight-year contracts. They were bought so that in the next six years they'd become the best team ever to play football and it doesn't work like that.
"You can't go that far forward and think 'oh they're going to be good in six years' time'. Football changes too quickly, and they're stuck now, Chelsea. I don't know what they're going to do."
Chelsea have 13 players whose contracts are not due to expire before 2030 — including the likes of Romeo Lavia, Lesley Ugochukwu and Deivid Washington.
Any new coach who could come to replace Pochettino would have to deal with the same players, and there's no guarantee that they will develop at the rate that Chelsea are hoping for.
