Mauricio Pochettino 'desperate' to win first trophy in English football
- Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea are into the 2024 Carabao Cup final
- Argentine never won a trophy with his previous English clubs
- Now 'desperate' to get his hands on silverware like he did at PSG
Mauricio Pochettino has described himself as "desperate" to win his first trophy in English football after guiding Chelsea to this season’s Carabao Cup final.
The Blues, who have struggled with performances and results throughout the campaign so far, put down arguably their best display yet under the Argentine with a clinical 6-1 win over Middlesbrough. Crucially, it overturned a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Championship side from the first leg.
Chelsea will now face either Liverpool or Fulham – the Reds hold a 2-1 aggregate lead going into the second leg of their semi on Wednesday night – in the final at Wembley next month.
"I am desperate to win a title here," Pochettino said, referencing having never previously been able to get his hands on a trophy with former club Tottenham Hotspur.
"[My staff] won, in one year and a half in Paris, three trophies. We want to win here, of course."
When Pochettino was appointed Spurs boss in 2014 after establishing himself as a top Premier League manager with Southampton, the club had not won a trophy in just over six years.
He was close on several occasions to ending that drought, finishing second in the Premier League – ironically behind Chelsea – in 2016/17, making back-to-back FA Cup semi-finals, and going to the 2019 Champions League final. Each time, Spurs fell short of silverware and are still waiting.
Upon joining Paris Saint-Germain midway through 2020/21, Pochettino went on to win the Trophee des Champions – effectively France's domestic super cup, the Coupe de France, and Ligue 1.
Chelsea, having been used to consistent success throughout the last 20 years, haven't won a trophy since a 2021 treble of the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. Their last domestic silverware was surprisingly as far back as 2018 when Antonio Conte's Blues narrowly beat Jose Mourinho's Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley.
Chelsea have since lost consecutive FA Cup finals in 2020, 2021 and 2022, as well as the 2019 and 2022 Carabao Cup finals. Five and a half seasons without a domestic trophy is their longest such drought since a 27-year wait between FA Cup successes in 1970 and 1997.
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