Jenas expects Spurs ‘boo boys’ to let Pochettino know he ‘crossed the line’ by joining Chelsea | OneFootball

Jermaine Jenas and Ben Mee on punditry duty for the BBC.

Jermaine Jenas expects “the boo boys” to be out in full voice when Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino returns to face his former side Tottenham on Monday.

Pochettino will face his former employers for the first time since being sacked in November 2019.

The Argentine manager spent a little over five years in charge of the north London club after successful spells with Southampton and Spanish outfit Espanyol.

He led the Premier League club to the Champions League final in 2018/19 but failed to get his hands on any silverware as Spurs boss.

Joining Chelsea in the summer certainly was a controversial move given their rivalry with his former team but Pochettino said last week that he can see himself managing Spurs again in the future.

It is unclear whether or not the club’s fans will welcome him back with open arms, but we should get a pretty decent indication when the Blues travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday evening.

Speaking to TNT Sports, ex-Spurs midfielder Jenas said Pochettino “crossed the line” by joining Chelsea and will need to “make peace with the fact” he is going to get booed at the place he used to call home.

“The interesting part of the whole thing is the return of Mauricio – is he going to get some love for what he did for that football club? Or is it just going to be boo central?” Jenas said.

“I think he just crossed the line, I think that’s the issue. From your point of view, for example, you said to me a minute ago, ‘He’s Chelsea now’.

“He needs to make peace with the fact that that ship has sailed with what he’s done at Spurs and this rivalry is real. I think the boo boys are going to be out and he’s just going to have to swallow it unfortunately.”

Chelsea – who have a net spend of €515.3m in 2023 – have started the season poorly despite the appointment of Pochettino.

They are currently 13th in the Premier League despite having no European football to balance with the domestic schedule.

Former Blues winger Joe Cole added that he thinks Pochettino has a “settled” midfield but there is still work to do defensively.

“I’ve watched Chelsea and there’s a lot of compartments with the team that are good,” he said.

“The midfield now, I think looks settled. I’m happy with that. Conor Gallagher, Enzo [Fernandez] and [Moises] Caicedo, young, good balance, can do everything.

“He hasn’t been able to settle on the back four. [Benoit] Badiashile is a really good player that we’ve missed. [Axel] Disasi has played right-back at times, which doesn’t suit him. He’s a good player, at centre-half done really well.

“So he needs to settle on them parts but it’s the front end of the pitch. It’s so frustrating because they’re at that stage now where they’re not even pulling the trigger, some of the lads, because of the confidence levels, so they need someone to lift them.”

Jenas agreed with Cole but says Spurs will be too strong for Pochettino’s men.

“It weighs heavy on a team eventually when that ball’s not hitting the back of the net,” he added.

“It’s alright popping it around [but] if you’re not scoring goals, it just has an impact on the team and going to Spurs and the way that they’re playing and how free flowing [they are].

“I honestly see Spurs continuing that. Under Ange, they’ve not flinched yet. This is probably the biggest test that he’s had, because of that rivalry and Poch and the story behind it all.

“But I do think that at this particular time just because of the form that they’re in, I think that no matter what kind of energy that Chelsea bring to the table, I think away from home it’s just a bit too soon for them.”