Chelsea will persist with Graham Potter even if he fails to deliver a top-four finish
According to Mirror (h/t Football.London), Chelsea will persist with manager Graham Potter even if he fails to deliver a top-four finish this season.
After the latest defeat to Manchester City in the league, the Blues find themselves 10th in the table, 10 points adrift of Manchester United in fourth place.
In their last eight league games, Potter’s men have managed to win only one game, lose four and draw the other three. That is not a form of a side that is touted to finish in the Champions League places.
Potter started his reign at Stamford Bridge in a positive way, but things have unravelled quickly for him. While he can be blamed for the results on the pitch, the injury situation has not helped his cause.
Key players Reece James and Ben Chilwell, who are key to Chelsea in fullback areas, have missed a good chunk of this season.
James picked up an injury in early October and missed the subsequent games and the World Cup. He made a comeback in the game against Bournemouth on December 27th but suffered another setback that is going to keep him out until February.
Chilwell, on the other hand, was slowly coming back to the fore in games before the World Cup. Right on time, he pulled up his hamstring and has missed games since.
Other key absentees are N’Golo Kante and Wesley Fofana in this team. The former has not featured since the second week of August, while the latter has not played much in his first season at the club and spent more time on the injury table.
To make things worse, Potter has lost two key attackers – Christian Pulisic and Raheem Sterling to injuries in the City game.
As much as the results have been horrendous, so are the fitness levels of the squad. Combine that with the inexperience of Potter managing a big club with these issues, it is all a bit of a mess at the moment.
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But, it is good to see that the owners are looking to back the manager. We all know Potter is an excellent manager, who would need time here before we see success delivered.