Graham Potter Thread

[Milan 17,959]

5 minutes ago, Blue Armour said:

What were you expecting to be different? Just genuinely curious about what upset you in this game.

The ultra negative approach is the one thing that frustrates me. To hell with the result. But the performance was an absolute disgrace.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

29 minutes ago, Hermione said:

Zero improvements over Tuchel only difference is a few players showing up again after falling out with Tuchel.

Completely disagree. He had it wrong at the beginning of the match, he didn’t wait for halftime. Tuchel would never have gone to a back four in this situation. Every late sub Potter made was to win the game and one of his offensive subs drew the foul. Tuchel would have played to get a 0-0 draw. We also would not be seeing players being rotated. Starters would be grinded into injuries. The difference between Potter’s approach to the game and Tuchel’s is night and day. 
 

I have the greatest respect for Tuchel, but there are clear differences and Potter goes for wins instead of possession for defence and try to knick a goal to win. 

[Blue Armour 4,448]

16 minutes ago, Milan said:

The ultra negative approach is the one thing that frustrates me. To hell with the result. But the performance was an absolute disgrace.

Maybe agree to disagree, but I don't see how his approach was ultra negative.

Not when we match them on the pitch in term of energy and aggression.

To me, ultra negative is what Conte did with us playing against City in the Etihad in his last season, doing nothing but ball watching.

Potter has been making adjustments in the game right from the first half with Kovacic. If that isn't the sign of a proactive manager then I don't know what is. 

Like @ZAPHOD2319 mentioned,  one of the subs even had an impact. 

I'm not sure what more he could have done with personnel we have available., without throwing the match away.

Our back 4 needs protection, and if he had gone for a more gung-ho approach, I am sure we would have punished by United. 

[Artandur 939]

How anyone can blame Potter after this is an absolute enigma to me

[laura90 556]

Pointless blaming on manager when we have squad full of untalented players unable to do basic. Strikers can't score, midfielders can't pass . Trying to get best out of midtable squad will have them look incompetent and  fired time after time. And we will continue to sign past it players  and expect improvement. When was the last time we improved defense, midfield, attack?  Auba,  Sterling and Lukaku aren't improvements.  It has gone beyond absurd our transfer policy.

Edited October 22, 2022 by laura90

[Gundalf 806]

33 minutes ago, Artandur said:

How anyone can blame Potter after this is an absolute enigma to me

I think Arteta should all teach us a lesson. Consistency. 

[YorkshireBlue 3,279]

1 hour ago, Hermione said:

Zero improvements over Tuchel only difference is a few players showing up again after falling out with Tuchel.

And the fact he hasn't lost? And only concerned once? Compared to negative goal difference and bottom half of the table lol 😹

[laura90 556]

13 minutes ago, YorkshireBlue said:

And the fact he hasn't lost? And only concerned once? Compared to negative goal difference and bottom half of the table lol 😹

When you compare they lows what about their highs? Tuchel's was CL Potter's will be 5th place? Tuchel turned this midtable side to champions and convinced them they were better than they actually were.  Injuries, loss of best players in January (Rudiger And AC) and everything that followed got the worst of them. Reality hit hard and they turned against manager.

We will never now how football Tuchel would play if he had capable players on his disposal. But what do  we know  Potter will not come close with his own achievements.

We couldn't get any player that was our first choice. That is telling . We were run extremely badly. At some point it catches up with you.

But hey, there is always new manager around the corner.

[YorkshireBlue 3,279]

33 minutes ago, laura90 said:

When you compare they lows what about their highs? Tuchel's was CL Potter's will be 5th place? Tuchel turned this midtable side to champions and convinced them they were better than they actually were.  Injuries, loss of best players in January (Rudiger And AC) and everything that followed got the worst of them. Reality hit hard and they turned against manager.

We will never now how football Tuchel would play if he had capable players on his disposal. But what do  we know  Potter will not come close with his own achievements.

We couldn't get any player that was our first choice. That is telling . We were run extremely badly. At some point it catches up with you.

But hey, there is always new manager around the corner.

Can't compare the two ATM as potter hasn't had the same time as TT. Time will definitely tell.

[Vesper 30,219]

I am 1000% behind Potter.

I am 1000% sick of the dregs we have on the team in far too many positions.

Seeing Azpi lumber about the pitch gives me fever dreams of autocannibalism. Insane we did not buy a decent backup RB like Mæhle, or a good young CB who is more than decent at RB, like Simakan.

 

[lucio 5,418]

2 hours ago, Vesper said:

I am 1000% behind Potter.

I am 1000% sick of the dregs we have on the team in far too many positions.

Seeing Azpi lumber about the pitch gives me fever dreams of autocannibalism. Insane we did not buy a decent backup RB like Mæhle, or a good young CB who is more than decent at RB, like Simakan.

 

Azpi should never play again , he’s beyond finished 

[robsblubot 3,595]

Chalobah did not make any obvious mistake (if you do not consider passing a skill a CB requires), his passing was really poor though. So, United high pressure can only work when passing from the back is poor. If our CBs can pass through their high press, then the ball gets to attack and then we get time on the ball, which evidently alleviates the pressure.

I disagree the issue is Azpi, or the "old guard". I'm not saying they can't be improved upon-almost any player can, but for me the worst players on this particular team are BY FAR the new hires: Cucurella, Auba, and Koulibaly. Cucurella so far has been Bakayoko level of shit... like I'm not sure he can play football. Once again I will throw Chalobah in the mix just to get quotes. Chalobah is physical, athletic, a powerful player and that's good enough for the Premiere League for sure, but it sure isn't good enough for a top4 club in the EPL. So, either he learns to play football real quick, like passing the football, or he will follow Zouma to wherever the fuck he is now (I said very much the same thing about Zouma before btw).

I'm still hoping Sterling is going to gel in and deliver the good once the ball gets to attack in a timely manner-way too fucking slow right now.

The honorary mention here has to go to Pulisic: he was shit under Tuchel and is showing his consistency by being shit under the new manager. Some players just disappoint and will never reach their once sought potential. You get used to it.

None of this is on Potter, but so far I'm not one bit impressed by his choices. It's way too soon, so he needs time to fully grok the squad and then get his ideas through. It remains to be seen whether he has the clout to do just that.

[milka 3,393]

8 hours ago, Vesper said:

 

Seeing Azpi lumber about the pitch gives me fever dreams of autocannibalism. Insane we did not buy a decent backup RB like Mæhle, or a good young CB who is more than decent at RB, like Simakan.

 

Fofana .

[Vesper 30,219]

8 hours ago, milka said:

Fofana .

Fofana is not a proven RB option, plus I was always against that buy as well

he is damaged goods in my book

we were crazy to drop that type of money on him without at least 1 full healthy year post injury

[Superblue 6,372]

7 games this season under Tuchel - 3 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses, scored 8, conceded 10,

8 games this season under Potter - 5 wins, 3 draws, 0 losses, scored 14, conceded 3

At the very least what Potter has done is stabilised the team and made us harder to beat despite absences in the defence and Kante.

If anyone thinks a new manager is immediately going to walk in and get us playing fluent, free flowing attacking football then they're deluded. In my opinion Potter has done what we've needed him to do this side of the World Cup. If he can get us qualified from the Champions League group from the next 2 games and keep us within the pack of clubs in the top 4 mix before the break then, for me, it's been a successful start.

I always find it amazing that no one is ever given any time in football anymore, whether player or manager. I know we've been spoilt under Roman, but people seem to be given no more than a half dozen games at our club now to be assessed whether they're any good or not, and it's been like that for quite a while now. You only have to go back and look at the period just pre-Roman and for the early years of his ownership to see some of the players who flourished here, but in many cases needed a year or two to start hitting the levels really acceptable of a top club - Lampard, Gudjohnsen, Gallas, Joe Cole, Makelele, Drogba, Ashley Cole, Essien, Ballack. Some of these players are amongst our greatest ever but you wonder in today's climate whether they would have been given the opportunities of time and patience they were afforded 15 - 20 years ago.

The same goes for the manager. He's been thrust into the job with very little opportunity afforded to training with the players on a technical level. We're playing 3 games a week, and in these periods, it's about managing the group and the recovery. He isn't going to have us playing like prime Barcelona any time soon, it'll take time for him to put his ideas across. This period and then one of reflection during the World Cup should be a positive for him, as it gives him time to really dig into and plan things that he wants to try and implement here. For now, it's more important to manage the team and the sheer number of games we're playing. 

As a side note one thing that has pleased me is that Potter isn't fixed to the one formation like Tuchel. Under Tuchel, when we moved to a back 4 we looked significantly worse in all facets of the games. Under Potter, if anything we're starting to look a better fit. He's answering questions such as can Silva and Chalobah both play in a back 4 which they are both answering currently that they can. I do think that ability to transition into a back 4 opens up a lot more options and possibilities regarding the way we can set up for games and hopefully is something that can allow us to also develop into a better and more fluid attacking outfit.

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

Another thing that hurts us is all the backwards passes that is ingrained in our midfielders. Yes it is necessary sometimes, but my God it is just never ending. I do not really see that as a part of Potter ball, but old habits die hard. I think as he builds his midfield, that will change.

[Laylabelle 9,536]

3 hours ago, ZAPHOD2319 said:

Another thing that hurts us is all the backwards passes that is ingrained in our midfielders. Yes it is necessary sometimes, but my God it is just never ending. I do not really see that as a part of Potter ball, but old habits die hard. I think as he builds his midfield, that will change.

Urghh that.. and then it leads to a goal and everything seems surprised as to why.

[Fulham Broadway 17,332]

So he coaches the person as much as the player. Makes sense - we can only get better then with that approach. 

[ZAPHOD2319 4,819]

I don’t know that we have enough talent in the forward positions to do this, but a great start.

 

[milka 3,393]

Porto/Atletico , Inter ,  Marseille/Sporting , Leipzig ,  Dortmund , Benfica . 

Edited October 26, 2022 by milka