The Graham Potter regime currently in its seat of power at Stamford Bridge has hardly begun to plant strong roots in west London as struggling Premier League giants Chelsea remain in a destitute state on the homefront under the former Brighton manager.
Currently sitting tenth in the league table and a whopping 19-points off table-topping Arsenal and 10-points adrift of cracking into the top four, the Blues have not found the right solution on the pitch or at board level to arrest the club’s current standing.
Potter, who earned high praise for what he helped build at the American Express Community Stadium in what can only be defined as the bedrock of a long-term project with sustainability at its core, was still viewed as a questionable appointment given the difference in size and scope when the two clubs are compared side-by-side. Thus far, that moment of pause has proven to hit the mark with rumors beginning to stir that certain players in the senior camp are resistant to adapting to his ideas on the pitch, while a disconnect regarding player recruitment also looms large.
That has not stopped The Times’ Henry Winter from issuing a damning indictment of Potter’s first few months in charge, with the chief football reporter laying into the 47-year-old while suggesting he does not appreciate the position he now finds himself in.
“Graham Potter has to start behaving like a Chelsea manager, not a former Brighton & Hove Albion manager” Winter proclaimed. “He has to stop this genuflecting to ‘top opponents’ in his respectful utterances and start showing some authority, charisma, and defiance. Potter has to start understanding the DNA of a club that he is privileged to manage.”
“Potter has to begin appreciating he occupies an office and dugout once prowled by winners like José Mourinho, Guus Hiddink, Carlo Ancelotti, Antonio Conte, and Thomas Tuchel. They thought like winners, spoke like winners, and exuded the confidence of winners. Their Chelsea teams went out and fought their way to 17 trophies.”
Though time remains on Potter’s side, and the knowledge that Boehly and company remain committed to backing him during what has clearly settled into a long-term process as evidenced by Chelsea’s clear aims in the transfer market, Potter does still have to begin to produce results befitting of a club of Chelsea’s stature if he is to see his position of power remain in his possession.
