When one of the most loyal sets of away fans has turned its back on you, there's definitely a problem. With 15 minutes left to play at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, Chelsea supporters had made their minds up.

Perhaps it was the inevitability of it all; the missed first-half chances, the lack of defensive structure, the post-half-time meltdown, the arms going up in the air, the resignation of defeat, the total inability to respond or deal with pressure. Or maybe it was just seeing Kai Havertz score twice.

Either way, Mauricio Pochettino's darkest day as head coach of Chelsea left the scale of the problems at the club bare for all to see. From Mykhailo Mudryk struggling to track back to defend and help Marc Cucurella - two of the worst signings made in the past 18 months in what is a crowded field - to 24-year-old stand-in captain Conor Gallagher fielding the tough questions after the game.

He could be sold come the summer despite being a fan and coach favourite. If that doesn't signal disconnect then what does? Thiago Silva's wife once again posted a cryptic but telling post online in the minutes after full-time - her husband had been left on the bench in one of several baffling selection calls from Pochettino. All is not well at Stamford Bridge.

A summer of change is on the cards for the third year in a row now. Pochettino's place in charge looks increasingly untenable as the weeks go by with even the promising unbeaten run carrying warning messages and red flags.

The club will assess his position at the end of the season. Supporters have voted with their voices, their online presence, and now their feet at matches. They have turned their back not just on Pochettino but on the hierarchy as a whole, giving up on projects and plans that have been promised and vouched for under Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital.

Nobody, it seems, understands their Chelsea. One man who does, and always has done, is Jose Mourinho. He's out of a job, a gun for hire, and is looking to get back in the game. Bringing him back is somehow the least Chelsea thing but also the most Chelsea thing to do.

Here, football.london looks at the pros and cons of such a call.

Reasons to sack Pochettino and hire Mourinho:

Connection

It is notable that in Frank Lampard's full year in charge (2019/20) he also suffered some bad results. What carried him through that, more than anything, was the feeling and connection he had instantly with Chelsea fans.

Pochettino doesn't have that - partially down to his Tottenham connections - and has made little attempt to form a relationship with his new fans either. At a time when there is sympathy for the job he inherited, having a bond and attachment with the fans would give him more support.

Mourinho has this in spades. He remains immensely popular despite leaving the club in December 2015 hovering above the relegation zone. His time at Manchester United and Spurs hasn't softened those feelings either.

More than anything, Chelsea fans want to feel part of something again. Now owned by a consortium headed by private equity businessmen, it's easy to see why they have begun to feel like consumers, their club a product.

When this is the case it makes results like Tuesday's even harder to stomach. There is a vacuum and a void of emotion now. There is apathy rather than anger. Mourinho would bring back a drive to the club - even if not a lot more.

Mentality

Chelsea's young squad appears to be calling out for strong direction. Pochettino is a man that they like but questions have always remained over if he was the right person to push them on and turn them into winners.

Mourinho showed with his cup exploits at Roma that there is magic still there. He certainly has the drive to keep going and make a third chapter. Some of the players look to be calling out to be moulded into something rather than just promise and talent.

Mourinho's infectious character could do this. He had success first time round with a young bunch at SW6. Things are very different this time round but there are few with the track record of the Special One.

Leadership

Similar to the point above, Mourinho is a disciplinarian. Where Pochettino has been unable to build a culture so far that has spread onto the pitch, Mourinho is perhaps more natural.

Just how he would manage with the current group is unclear. They lack serious leaders within and Mourinho would be tasked with getting more from them than anyone previously.

Led by a more charismatic manager it could be the ticket, but these are bold assumptions to make. Pochettino has attempted to steady the ship, not falling out with players and keeping a happy camp, but Mourinho might be forced to shake it up.

Mistakes

Chelsea's players have consistently caused themselves serious problems this season. From Djordje Petrovic's near post error to the entire team switching off at the corner that led to Ben White's first, Chelsea are a mistake-ridden team.

Moises Caicedo laid on for Alejandro Garnacho against Manchester United two weeks ago and Axel Disasi has even scored an own goal from 45 yards out. With such a catalogue of howlers it is hard not to go back to the manager at some stage.

Injuries

This isn't just a Pochettino issue and could easily be included in the reasons against sacking him, but he does have history with injury problems. The intensity of his football and physical demands on players is telling.

Those who have stayed fit - Gallagher, Nicolas Jackson, Disasi - look better than ever when pressing but the constant setbacks for others cannot be ignored. It's tough to blame them all on the coach, but the correlation is still there.

Conceding goals

Chelsea have already let in more goals in the league than they did in the entirety of last season. They have also scored more and gained more points, but the defensive woes and lack of structure has been marked.

No Blues side has ever conceded more than this one in a league season despite there being six games left. Mourinho would surely firm this up in some ways, that is what his sides did best, after all.

Reasons against sacking Pochettino and hiring Mourinho:

Tactical questions

Building up a connection, a culture, and an identity are the big plusses for Mourinho but Lampard also showed in his time as interim last year that it cannot solve everything. There is a chasm between their coaching abilities and records, but results do still remain king even if emotion can grant time.

Mourinho, similar to Pochettino, has not managed to have the same impact in top-level coaching as in the first half of his career. Mourinho is not the tinker-man tactician that most aspiring head coaches are, whether that is entirely negative is for another day.

That his replacement at Roma, Danielle De Rossi, has managed to turn things around so quickly since Mourinho's departure is a possible worry. His style of football has never been a major lure and in a time of increasingly progressive nuances and ideas, it would pose a concern, especially after criticisms levied towards Pochettino's own styles.

League results

Mourinho hasn't won a domestic league since 2015 at Chelsea. His finishes since then have also been mediocre. Outside of coming second with Manchester United in 2017/18 he has failed to leave a club above sixth in the eight years either side.

Even with the third-largest wage bill in Serie A, his time at Roma was frustrating domestically. Chelsea will be keen to push on up the table after spending two years in mid-table, and Mourinho's recent record doesn't have evidence to say he's the man to bring that.

Sheer optics

For an ownership group looking long-term, fresh, and data-led, ending up after two seasons with Mourinho is just a hilariously bad look. It would say very little (or perhaps everything) of their planning and impact at the club if this were to be the avenue they go down.

Cobham

Mourinho rarely had to rely on the Chelsea academy as the core of his team was so strong the first time around, but since then the club has consistently produced players on a par - if not better - than those that have been signed more vast amounts of money. Cobham will now play a key role in not only developing players but in the business model of the owners, also raising revenue.

Although the 61-year-old did show a new side to his game in Italy, bedding through a younger group in Rome, there are certainly questions over how he would manage the exiting crop coming through at Cobham.

Transfers

The billion-dollar question; Are Chelsea's players actually good? Most of them haven't got much evidence yet to suggest that they are ready to be players in a top-four team even if their potential could carry them that far.

Would a new manager, namely Mourinho, actually be able to get more out of them? It's debatable. Without key additions across the field (left-back and striker for certain with the possibility of a new goalkeeper, centre-back, and midfielder also being needed), is substantially climbing up the table actually possible?

If the answer is yes then a new coach should do the trick. But there's reason to think that actually, Pochettino is doing a poor job with tools not suited to the job and other managers would also struggle.

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