Mauricio Pochettino's Record Against Members of the 'Big Six'

Mauricio Pochettino looks destined to become Chelsea's new manager having been out of work since he was sacked from his role as PSG head coach at the end of the 2021/22 season.

Due to Pochettino finishing his time at Spurs without a trophy to his name while managing in England, there has been a lot of attention made to his record against members of the ‘Big Six’, so here, we take a deep dive into the 51-year-old Argentinian manager's record.

For Pochettino at Spurs, the games against Arsenal were the biggest fixtures of the season for his side but during his time with them, he was only able to beat their biggest rival three times in 13 attempts as Tottenham manager. A manager would argue that he still managed to finish above them in every season they played bar one (ironically, their title charge season).

They didn’t lose as they used to under previous management, but they still drew six times and only lost four others in his time at Tottenham, which still is very underwhelming for a derby.

Nevertheless, in his two games as Southampton's manager against Arsenal, he did provide a win and a draw, with the win coming at the Emirates also. Overall, a hit-and-miss record against the Gunners.

The 51-year-old has had a similarly poor record against Chelsea, managing 17 times against Chelsea as he won six games, drew twice, and lost nine more. At the same time, he conceded an alarming 35 goals in the 17 times he took charge against them.

Two of the losses against Chelsea were in the semi-finals which lost Tottenham the opportunity of winning a trophy, as he lost 4-2 against them in the FA Cup semi-final in 2017 where Chelsea went on to lose in the final to Arsenal.

The other loss was in the second leg of the 2019 Carabao Cup, where despite winning the first leg, losing the second took the tie to penalties, which Spurs lost. Once again, another situation where the Argentine just couldn't win a trophy.

The Argentine's worst record against English sides is by far against Liverpool, as he only managed to win three times against them in 16 opportunities, drawing four times and losing nine times, including the 2019 Champions League final.

In a way, there was no shame in losing that Champions League final clash as he did manage to get all the way to the final against the odds, and it was up against a record-breaking Liverpool side that got 97 points in the league that season.

Pochettino’s team really didn’t show up for that Champions League final, and if he would take over at Chelsea, he would need to set up his teams better for both better results in cup finals, and to have a better record against Liverpool. It really does seem as if Jurgen Klopp has sussed him out.

Pochettino has played Manchester City at three different clubs: Southampton, Spurs, and with PSG. However, following another defeat to them in the Champions League, his record against them has been underwhelming, with him only winning six times in his 20 games against them, losing 11 times and drawing the other three.

Although his record against City isn’t very good, he still managed to win arguably the most important game of his time with Spurs: the Champions League quarter-finals first leg in 2019. The away leg ended in a 4-3 defeat to Spurs, but the away goals from Fernando Llorente, and Son Heung-min meant his side went into the semi-finals.

However, overall, only keeping three clean sheets against City in his 20 games against them is not a great record to have and it does seem off the back of three defeats and one win in his time at PSG against Pep Guardiola that the Spaniard may just have his number.

During his time as Southampton and Tottenham manager, Pochettino managed just four wins in 14 matches against Manchester United.

The first meeting between the Argentine and the Red Devils was all the way back in January 2013, where Southampton were beaten 2-1 at Old Trafford, despite taking a third-minute lead through Jay Rodriguez. In his time at the South Coast club, he met United twice more, drawing 1-1 with them home and away in 2013/14, with David Moyes and Ryan Giggs taking charge of each fixture.

In his next 11 meetings against the Old Trafford club, Pochettino managed to win four and draw one, a respectable record when considering that Spurs and United have been on more of a level playing field than the Saints were under his reign. Memorably, Spurs beat United 2-1 in their final game at the old White Hart Lane thanks to goals by Victor Wanyama and Harry Kane.

Pochettino's most recent win against United was all the way back in August 2018, when Spurs thrashed the Red Devils 3-0 towards the end of Jose Mourinho's managerial tenure. However, this came just months after his side were beaten 2-1 by United in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

In general, Pochettino has only ever managed against Tottenham three times, of which all of these meetings were when he was managing Southampton.

The Saints lost all three of these fixtures, losing 1-0 to Spurs at White Hart Lane in May 2013 as Gareth Bale scored a stunning late winner, while the other two meetings in the 2013/14 season saw Tottenham win on both occasions by 3-2 scorelines. Notably, the more recent of the 3-2 wins for Tottenham in March 2014 saw Southampton blow a 2-0 lead.

Pochettino has managed a total of 85 games against these six big teams but has only won 23 times in these matches.

This puts the Argentine with a win percentage of only 27%, which is incredibly alarming as this is a record that he will is expected to significantly improve upon if he is to challenge for trophies at Chelsea.

Furthermore, with a -30 goal difference in these 85 games against such sides, it's clear to see that Pochettino picked up the majority of his points against those further down the table which is where the core of a title-winning team starts, maximising points from the other 14 sides in the division.

All in all, he really didn't have the greatest record against the 'Big Six' and a lot of attention on the two-legged quarter-finals win over City seems to plaster over the cracks of what is an area for serious improvement.