Graham Potter Thread

[NikkiCFC 8,286]

When Hiddink replaced Mourinho we still finished 10th that season. It's hard to motivate players to fight for nothing results wise. We know that team had quality because they won title season before and after. This season is similar so I'm really not bothered about PL results till the end of the season. They say nothing. 

Potter can put more pragmatic approach like Tuchel and easily get better results. But that's not a point and what club wants. We are all sick of that because it works only for a year and after that it becomes toxic and we go again. Happened so many times here with Mourinho, Conte, Tuchel even Grant, RDM, Hiddink first time. 

Now it's the opposite. It's toxic from the beginning because we are finally changing philosophy and direction. It will be hard for many, many more months but in the end it will be worth it. 

Potter is sacrificing right now for the future and long term goal. He knows very well 343 or some similar ugly shit could get him result for example against Spurs in 2 days but he will bravely continue with 4231 even tho it probably won't work again because he is fighting for much higher goal than not only one game but whole current season. Potter is not screaming on the bench but has bigger balls than TT. I salute Sir Potter for sacrificing his name only for Chelsea to be better in next 10-15 years. 

People say they would be fine with this process if some better manager is doing it but I don't buy it because same people were screaming for Sarri to get sacked in January, February after 4:0 and 6:0 defeats. But Sarri was doing amazing job that season in the end. If he stayed 2 more seasons he would finish the job and put us there with City in terms of consistency. But he couldn't because of transfer ban etc... And with Roman it was not impossible because he had this short term policy which worked well most of the time. But now is the time. 

[Laylabelle 9,534]

Even if champions league has gone there's still potential Europa place which if get into and  we're in the same postion next year winning that helps get somewhere even if looked down on for some reason

..still should be things to fight for especially fan wise...its a shame. Who wants to finish 10th?! Or lower at this rate. Need to play for pride at least not there's much of that 

[Vegetable 830]

10 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

Potter is sacrificing right now for the future and long term goal. He knows very well 343 or some similar ugly shit could get him result for example against Spurs in 2 days but he will bravely continue with 4231 even tho it probably won't work again because he is fighting for much higher goal than not only one game but whole current season. Potter is not screaming on the bench but has bigger balls than TT. I salute Sir Potter for sacrificing his name only for Chelsea to be better in next 10-15 years. 

No idea if prime troll or serious 😂

 

As per Arsenal's fanpage:

Quote

"[Arteta is] a manager that, for sure, is going to achieve so much because of the mentality he has. You can feel he loves what he does.

"He can give you so much [as a player], his passion for every single day of work. It's an example for everyone."

- Jorginho

Jorgi is taking 5 subtle stabs at Potter a day since leaving just for fun, makes one wonder even more about the "great atmosphere" here.

[Tomo 21,751]

40 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

When Hiddink replaced Mourinho we still finished 10th that season. It's hard to motivate players to fight for nothing results wise. We know that team had quality because they won title season before and after. This season is similar so I'm really not bothered about PL results till the end of the season. They say nothing. 

Potter can put more pragmatic approach like Tuchel and easily get better results. But that's not a point and what club wants. We are all sick of that because it works only for a year and after that it becomes toxic and we go again. Happened so many times here with Mourinho, Conte, Tuchel even Grant, RDM, Hiddink first time. 

Now it's the opposite. It's toxic from the beginning because we are finally changing philosophy and direction. It will be hard for many, many more months but in the end it will be worth it. 

Potter is sacrificing right now for the future and long term goal. He knows very well 343 or some similar ugly shit could get him result for example against Spurs in 2 days but he will bravely continue with 4231 even tho it probably won't work again because he is fighting for much higher goal than not only one game but whole current season. Potter is not screaming on the bench but has bigger balls than TT. I salute Sir Potter for sacrificing his name only for Chelsea to be better in next 10-15 years. 

People say they would be fine with this process if some better manager is doing it but I don't buy it because same people were screaming for Sarri to get sacked in January, February after 4:0 and 6:0 defeats. But Sarri was doing amazing job that season in the end. If he stayed 2 more seasons he would finish the job and put us there with City in terms of consistency. But he couldn't because of transfer ban etc... And with Roman it was not impossible because he had this short term policy which worked well most of the time. But now is the time. 

We were 3 points off top four and "only" 11 points off the top based on the form table of Hiddinks time (and Hollands one game).

Not great by any means but a big improvement from the Jose part of that season.

[OneMoSalah 8,883]

Think he's said that the players said pre-season at the beginning of the season was worst they’ve ever had. Never went into specifics but the tour was in the US and organisationally didn't work. 

I doubt he is but on the odd chance he may be, I really hope he’s not trying to take any shots at Tuchel whose Chelsea record this season is probably almost the same as his despite being sacked in September. Because he’s just setting himself up for even mote criticism.

[Gundalf 805]

1 hour ago, Vegetable said:

No idea if prime troll or serious 😂

Ofc thats trolling but its actually true tho. When was the last time we performed well not using a 3 atb? It seems this club only works with 3atb, Tuchel wanted to implement a back 4, failed miserably. When Conte came he wanted to play a back 4, went down the toilet before changing back to 3atb and won the PL. 

Idk why but this club is just able to perform with a 3 atb

[YorkshireBlue 3,264]

3 hours ago, Vegetable said:

It is accurate, but is it THE problem tho?

If I was to pick players actually struggling with the league from current squad, I'd say 1)Zyiech 2)Havertz 3)Lukaku, so it's bit unfortunate. Felix took like 15 minutes to adapt, Badman maybe 35.

Yes, we need to build some chemistry in the team, that's obvious, but it doesn't address the elephant in the room that players have zero motivation and are getting tactically battered by every opponent + in addition to not being clinical enough, there's no idea in sight how to actually produce goals except for waiting for some unnamed incarnation of Pele coming here and magically solving all the problems.

Today I also read that now the "rough preseason" is the cause of current situation, so it's hard not to laugh at this shit. Since we've got injured players back, the excus-o-randomizer now went from "injuries" to "players needing time (lol) to adapt".

We all see where the problems lie, so I'd much prefer us (as a club) to move from the diagnosis and trying to shift the blame onto Roman, Tuchel, Marina, Mount or whoever to actually solving them, and this is the part that for now seems unfruitful af.

I'd also be interested in some broader read about ideas of our new "mentality coach" from rugby team, as I had expected some instant, Mourinho-esque morale boost, meanwhile literally all our players look like disinterested, depressed Moomins to the extent where it's actually hilarious to watch them.

I think people are quick to forget, we have let in less goals than man city, and equal to arsenal, so if his idea was to get the defence sorted first it's definitely working, just need to work on attack now.

2 hours ago, Vegetable said:

No idea if prime troll or serious 😂

 

As per Arsenal's fanpage:

Jorgi is taking 5 subtle stabs at Potter a day since leaving just for fun, makes one wonder even more about the "great atmosphere" here.

Don't really know why this is a stab at any one, players always praise Thier new manager and I have no idea what you want him to say? Would it make you feel better if after every praise he gave his new manager that he also included his old one aswell?

1 hour ago, OneMoSalah said:

Think he's said that the players said pre-season at the beginning of the season was worst they’ve ever had. Never went into specifics but the tour was in the US and organisationally didn't work. 

I doubt he is but on the odd chance he may be, I really hope he’s not trying to take any shots at Tuchel whose Chelsea record this season is probably almost the same as his despite being sacked in September. Because he’s just setting himself up for even mote criticism.

If it's true about the pre season, why does it have to be a shot at any one? You can state facts without pointing blame.

32 minutes ago, Gundalf said:

Ofc thats trolling but its actually true tho. When was the last time we performed well not using a 3 atb? It seems this club only works with 3atb, Tuchel wanted to implement a back 4, failed miserably. When Conte came he wanted to play a back 4, went down the toilet before changing back to 3atb and won the PL. 

Idk why but this club is just able to perform with a 3 atb

We perform well with 3atb because the last few managers all used this system, therefore we bought players for this system, Reece and Chilwel both perform better as wing backs,  hard to change a habit.

[Reddish-Blue 2,489]

34 minutes ago, Gundalf said:

Ofc thats trolling but its actually true tho. When was the last time we performed well not using a 3 atb? It seems this club only works with 3atb, Tuchel wanted to implement a back 4, failed miserably. When Conte came he wanted to play a back 4, went down the toilet before changing back to 3atb and won the PL. 

Idk why but this club is just able to perform with a 3 atb

Probably has something to do with the players available... Conte tried to play a back 4 and quickly realised that Alonso has zero defensive ability. 

The last time I remember Chelsea playing a back 4 properly was with Mourinho.  

A back 4 is much easier to play when you have midfielders like Makelele, Essien, even Obi Mikel being the shield in front of the defense.  When you go away from that and try to use players like Jorginho/Kovacic in that sort of role, teams know they can counter at will and get away with it as there is no one there to step in and put in the tackle or make the break of play foul. 

[robsblubot 3,595]

2 minutes ago, Reddish-Blue said:

Probably has something to do with the players available... Conte tried to play a back 4 and quickly realised that Alonso has zero defensive ability. 

The last time I remember Chelsea playing a back 4 properly was with Mourinho.  

A back 4 is much easier to play when you have midfielders like Makelele, Essien, even Obi Mikel being the shield in front of the defense.  When you go away from that and try to use players like Jorginho/Kovacic in that sort of role, teams know they can counter at will and get away with it as there is no one there to step in and put in the tackle or make the break of play foul. 

Agreed. Midfield setup, but also the type of CBs as well as FBs. Hard to play 2 at the back if one of the 2 is David Luiz for example.

Even the wingers matter too... can they defend, or or useless in defense? Can they press high? So many variables, and TBH, not sure the new crop of signings change any of that. Feels like we will be playing with 3 at the back for a while yet.

[Reddish-Blue 2,489]

4 hours ago, robsblubot said:

Agreed. Midfield setup, but also the type of CBs as well as FBs. Hard to play 2 at the back if one of the 2 is David Luiz for example.

Even the wingers matter too... can they defend, or or useless in defense? Can they press high? So many variables, and TBH, not sure the new crop of signings change any of that. Feels like we will be playing with 3 at the back for a while yet.

Feels like the plan is confusing as the young midfielders we are investing in...may be more suited to a 3 man midfield.  Chuks, Santos, Casadei seem to be the type of players who would thrive in a 3 man midfield (with the experience of Kante/Kova and the passing ability of Enzo). 

Even Mount may get his confidence back in a 3 man midfield (if the club feels he is the one to build around). 

[robsblubot 3,595]

25 minutes ago, Reddish-Blue said:

Feels like the plan is confusing as the young midfielders we are investing in...may be more suited to a 3 man midfield.  Chuks, Santos, Casadei seem to be the type of players who would thrive in a 3 man midfield (with the experience of Kante/Kova and the passing ability of Enzo). 

Even Mount may get his confidence back in a 3 man midfield (if the club feels he is the one to build around). 

I definitely envy people who see a master plan at work, because I surely see none. 😅

Edited February 25, 2023 by robsblubot

[Cosmin 2,484]

I think what the players said to Potter about the pre-season is 100% spot on. As always, the media and social media "fans" made it sound like it's about Tuchel, but it was not. I am not even sure if there is anyone to blame for it, let alone Tuchel. Sanctions were lifted around May, there was so little time for adjustments. Other clubs made a lot of moves between March and May, when our club was not even able to move a finger!

The new owners arrived in May and they had a lot to figure out in terms of who to fire, who to hire, what players to sign etc. Everything was a mess about pre-season, everything had to be done on fast forward. A lot of important players left the club (Christensen, Rudiger, Alonso, Werner, even Lukaku), not enough players came in etc.

A lot of people seem to have forgotten how much Tuchel was complaining about things during the summer. "We have the same problems, because we have the same players", "So we had an urgent appeal for quality players, a huge amount of quality players. We got two quality players but we are not competitive like this. Unfortunately you could see it today". Mind you, this was only two weeks before the season started: "I cannot guarantee we will be ready in two weeks".

So yeah, it was a mess, and then reality hit us. Tuchel was fired, Potter was brought in and he inherited that mess. Then winter came and we finally bought that "huge amout of quality players" that TT was asking for. And now Potter has to make it work. Without a pre-season, with a huge injury crisis and with a lot of bad luck too.

There are a lot of circumstances around our bad form and I am 100% sure that should Tuchel have stayed, things wouldn't go much better. Maybe we would still be a top 6 or top 8 team, but nothing more than that. And the same people asking for Potter's head now would be asking for Tuchel's. Another fact that people forgot is that there were already fans asking for Tuchel to go after the Southampton or Leeds defeats, for example.

The reason why some fans are so surprised about what's happening is because nothing like this has never happened before in football, let alone at Chelsea. There was no takeover in the history of football that was made without a plan. This was an exceptional situation. Everything since March 2022 has been crazy and the results are just the consequence of everything that's been going on around the club.

Potter needs to do better, but he is the least of our problems and I am sure that he is also part of the solution to at least improve and stabilize things. I am not sure that he will be able to take us back to winning titles, but I think he has the ability to build a foundation that a better manager can use for that. 

Edited February 25, 2023 by Cosmin