largelyworried
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- Joined
- Feb 10, 2021
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- 2,101
I think people underestimate how bad Chelsea were under Tuchel since mid-December 2021 - they were only 6th in the form table. Very much akin to Solskjaer getting second with us, their top four position last season was heavily dependant on us, Tottenham and Arsenal being being poor - with Manutd being beyond just poor.
This season, they were leaking goals and scoring very few. Potter has improved them massively on both fronts - it is far from perfect, but Chelsea have a lot of issues stemming from poor recruitment, particularly this past summer.
Just to show the improvement:
- Goals conceded per game - 1.42 (Tuchel) ; 0.37 (Potter)
- Goals scored per game - 0.8 (Tuchel) ; 1.75 (Potter)
It wasn't even like Tuchel had a tougher run - he only had to play Tottenham from the teams currently in the top half of the table (a few of the teams he faced have struggled badly this season - Leicester and Leeds etc.). Potter has faced two top half sides (Brentford and Manutd) and he has had to play AC Milan twice; Tuchel faced the easiest team in their CL group.
Personally I'm not convinced he's done much more than cheer up the dressing room at the moment. They seem to have the same strengths and weaknesses as they did under Tuchel - they prioritise control and possession over chance creation, leading to some pretty sterile football. They're much better than they were under Tuchel this season, but I'm not sure they're better than under Tuchel last season.
Indeed the first indications are that they're getting even more cautious, since they were scoring at a rate of 2 goals per game and conceding at 0.8 goals per game last year. So they're both scoring and conceding fewer so far under Potter, albeit its so few games that I'd consider it not much more than the first hints, as opposed to anything too concrete.
Potter was always a cautious coach at Brighton. Their goalscoring record was poor under him. Even when they finished 9th, they only scored 42 goals, which is relegation fodder territory. They thrived in the league because they dominated possession against most teams but were risk averse with the final pass. At Chelsea it looks like he's got better players but he has the same approach.
Obviously he'll need another 20+ fixtures before we get a real sense of him as a coach at a big team, but he's not someone I'm too worried about yet. Indeed of the top 6 teams he's the coach I'd want least.