“Jurgen took a bit of time”- Graham Potter cites three examples to make case for patience at Chelsea

Graham Potter dismisses the notion that he might not see out the season at Chelsea

According to The Independent, Graham Potter has denied any indication that he could fail to see out the 2022/23 campaign in charge of Chelsea.

The Englishman made a name for himself at Brighton & Hove Albion, establishing the Seagulls as a Premier League side. He took over from Thomas Tuchel earlier this season and has so far endured a rocky start to life at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues have won just two of their last 10 Premier League games and sit tenth in the table this season. They are 10 points behind Manchester United in the fourth spot and face a real struggle to secure Champions League qualification.

Graham Potter dismisses the notion that he might not see out the season at Chelsea.
Chelsea should persist with Graham Potter even if he fails to deliver a top-four finish. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

The recent loss to Manchester City, once again has led to questions being asked about Potter’s future. He, however, remains bullish and has stated that the Blues’ owners are well aware of the challenges the club is facing at the moment.

“I’m not here to convince anybody. I’m here to do my I work and then if that convinces then that’s fine.”

He goes on to state that even more accomplished managers need time to build their style at a club. Potter took examples of Man City’s Pep Guardiola and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp to drive home the point. Patience certainly is a virtue and that is the need of the hour at Stamford Bridge now.

“I think Pep (Guardiola) was (at Manchester City) a year before they’d won anything, and then obviously Mikel (Arteta) and Jurgen (Klopp) took a bit of time.”

The managers he mentioned above all took time to win their first trophy with their clubs. Guardiola joined Manchester City as their manager in February 2016 but won his first trophy in 2018. Klopp joined Liverpool in November 2015 but had to wait until 2019 for his first silverware.

Graham Potter dismisses the notion that he might not see out the season at Chelsea.
Will Todd Boehly be as trigger happy as Roman Abramovich? (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)

Arteta joined Arsenal as their manager in December 2019 but is yet to win a league or a European title – although he did win the FA Cup in 2020. Chelsea under Roman Abramovich were reputed for being trigger-happy regarding their managers. Boehly and co wasted little time in replacing Tuchel but it remains to be seen if they are ready to pull the plug on Potter prematurely.

The 47-year-old is one of the Premier League’s most promising managers and has had little time to incorporate his ideas at Chelsea. Injuries and the lack of a pre-season have had a telling effect on the way we play and it is only right that we give Potter the time to set things right.

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The squad as a whole is also in need of a rebuild and once cannot expect Potter to build the right project without the requisite tools. For now, detractors need to take a step back and let the man do his job.