No you couldn't.
Houghton was great, he played very organised low block defensive football and kept us in the premier league for 2 seasons, but with that style of play we would never have got any higher and every season would have been about beating relegation.
Potter came in and changed that entirely, he changed us to an expansive and progressive style of football, it takes a bit of time (something Chelsea not to give) for that change to really take hold and he guided us to our highest ever position since we were founded in 1901. His work with Bloom, Ashworth and Barber changed the style of player we signed and developed and completely changed the way we played.
De Zerbi has come in and picked up where Potter left off, we were fourth when Potter left having just put 5 past Leicester, De Zerbi is brilliant and I'm over the moon he is our manager, but Potter was very very good as well and De Zerbi said that it was Potter that laid the groundwork for him to come in and tweak when he took over and thanked him again at the end of the season.
As much as I liked Houghton, the football we play today and the team we have is a million miles from his vision, but still intricately linked to Potters.