Chelsea players have been told they will be lucky to work with Mauricio Pochettino – but have been warned his training sessions are intense.
talkSPORT understands the ex-Tottenham manager is set to sign a three-year contract at Stamford Bridge this week, having been out of work since losing his job at Paris Saint-Germain last summer.
The 51-year-old will officially assume control of the Blues in the summer, with the Argentine making a new striker and goalkeeper his top priorities.
And he will be returning to the Premier League for the first time since his sacking by Spurs in 2019.
Chelsea will be the third English side Pochettino will have managed after he made the move to Southampton in 2013.
Rickie Lambert, who led the line for the Saints under Pochettino’s tutelage, has been effusive in his praise for the coach.
But he has stated the Chelsea squad won’t have it easy, as he insisted the players will never have known a manager like him before.
Speaking on The Boot Room on talkSPORT, Lambert said: “Anyone who has asked me, he’s the manager who I say is the best manager I’ve come across, by some distance as well.
“I think his man-management is second to none, and his tactical side and attention to detail is second to none.
“I think the fans are going to love him, I generally think that they’re very lucky.
“I think the way the club is going the last season or so, I think he’s the perfect appointment to grab the whole club by the scruff of its neck and get everyone going in the right direction.
“So it’s a brilliant addition for Chelsea, I think the players are going to love him, [but] it’s going to be tough.
“The players won’t have seen anything like Poch before in the training – they will get pushed in training more than in the games they will be playing.
“So they will have to get used to that, but with the squad that Chelsea have got, they’re young, hungry lads, they’ll love him, they will absolutely love him.”
