Hope they keep him for an year or two like we did with Ole.
Graham Potter | turns down Ajax job
- Thread starter horsechoker
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He’s been out for three months with a knee Injury anyway.
The Chelsea way
Agreed. They will go out of CL now too. Maybe they can't afford to sack him because they've given him a silly deal? I would argue they also can't afford not to sack him though.
How many points have we dropped this season to the new manager bounce? They better stand by their word and “give him a chance”You know it's coming, just as we could go top of the league.
I feel for him. The squad’s had no investment and he’s feeding off scraps.
New owners spunk massive pile of cash on bloated squad without proper plan and destroy team. Caveat emptor.
This Trial by Media mentality is BS but is the way of the world. If you don’t come across well on camera you’re out of your depth. It’s self perpetuating. It gets into the players’ heads and spreads like hot gossip.
That said, there does seem to be a correlation between people who are confident, articulate characters with an awareness of how their public words and actions are perceived and people who are successful football managers.
I’d wonder how much the dire pool of managers to select from is keeping him in a job.
Genuinely who would they go for? Try and poach Luis Enrique from Spain? Coax Fat Sam from Spoons?
Take back Tuchel maybe
No idea. There are no outstanding candidates nor anyone you’d bet the house on or be ‘oh oh!’ About them landing
Enrique's the only one you'd hope they can't get, the rest are either up and coming managers with something to prove or, Poch...
I wouldn't mind them going for an over the hill manager next, or another 'Potter'. Should see them in the wilderness for a good 5 years at least.
No.
How come? A pride thing or you think he wouldn't be able to take Chelsea to the PL title with the group of players and investment incoming?
He is not a natural goalscorer though. They have too many players of that profile. What they need is a proper 9, a battering ram
Aye they’re chatting shite, they were fecking woeful, even Arteta couldn’t tell what they were trying to do.
In all seriousness, he would probably tell them to do one. But from a Chelsea point of view, are there better candidates available? Mancini or Enrique out of their national teams?
They're the big two available right now but they would never take a job mid season so maybe Chelsea are waiting for the summer to land a big name?
Said this recently, even with all their new signings I still think their squad looks relatively weak compared to their rivals’
He wasn't helped yesterday by Sterlings poor finishing, he's such a strange player.
I've never been a fan of Sterling, playing in a Pep system covered a lot of his flaws, of his and other players. Never really got the hype around him, he's in the same bracket as Lingard's and Mount's for me, at the top end of that bracket but still a largely disappointing player.
I agree, seems to pick up goals here and there but other than that, his finishing is pants. Chelsea would have won comfortably yesterday had he not squandered the great chances he had.
I’ld put good money on Potter getting fired soon and becoming the new Leeds manager
Completing his transition from hero to villain in the space of one full season.
Because the players are not being put into position to succeed. There is absolutely no structure to what we do either on or off the ball - the risks our players are being asked to take in 1v1 situations under pressure without sensible options available are sizeable, yet there are no easy way to create overloads or escape traps. So when you're set up to invite pressure but not escape it, inevitably the ball just gets hoofed forwards and then no one is in position to fight for second balls when our short and technical front line inevitably loses the aerial duel. We went from being one of the most structured sides in the world under Tuchel to this chaotic mess.
At one point in the first half, we lost possession literally 4 times in a row because Kepa took a GK short to Badiashile, who would move it to Chilwell, who had no options available except for a long ball down the line to Mount (on the fecking left wing for god only knows what reason), where it was immediately turned over. Literally 4 possessions in a row.
Again - if there were any signs of positivity tactically or if players individually were improving, I'd have more patience and be willing to accept growing pains. But no one here is fecking growing - so it's just pains.
I thought the post-match interview was illuminating - Potter basically said "welp we had the CL and had to rotate, so tactically it was tough, especially because Southampton came in with a plan". Gosh, if only Chelsea were paying someone whose job it is to identify and counter opposition tactics! The cherry on top was Southampton's interim coach then said "yeah I only got here a bit ago, I had no actual plan".
Excellent rant. Spot on.
This is why Potter won't last long. The good news is Enrique is available. But he will demand complete control. Will your set up give him that?
Hopefully not, still think he's a quality manager and could do well at Leeds with a bit more time and less pressure
You can have ChatGPT manage them and have more points than this loon. Really happy to see them have their Moyes moment.
Not a bad shout. Think he'd fit in perfectly at t'Leeds in terms of players they have. Not as a person though because he seems a decent guy
What are your midfield options to play his way ?
Who is your forward to finish the chances - Spain had this exact same issue. ?
If it's Enrique, you will need another big window in the summer. I doubt he would be ready to come and take it up now. Anything but a good start, pressure would be too much.
The talk about their exotic new winger being the new Hazard after 1 game has eased down a tad.
I went ahead and asked ChatGPT what formation they should use:
1. 3-4-3
2. 4-3-3
3. 4-2-3-1
But it also listed players like Lukaku, Werner etc.
Also: even ChatGPT has Mount in the starting 11.
Really?
Hypothetically we don't spend a penny this summer this is probably our best Xl fully fit.
A vastly improved Kepa
James
Fofana/Badiashille/Colwill
Silva
Chilwell
Enzo
Kova
Sterling
Nkunku
Mudryk
Havertz
One of the best defenses around (even this season we're joint second best), good pivot (even better if Kante signs a new deal and somehow stays fit for a good period), I personally think that's a potentially good attack but I can understand the opposition in that regard.
Probably not enough to challenge City (which yes I know isn't a good thing given the spend) but we've had worse starting Xl's than that finish top four.
Havertz is wank. You’d most likely play Nkunku up top, sign Felix permanently and play him in a free role just behind.
If that happens then thay emphasises my point even more.
Yeah, I'm not even remotely impressed with that team. Especially after spending £600m on it.
Which is your right but please expand in more detail after I've just given my thoughts in good faith.
Enzo / Kovacic / Zakaria is a technically sound midfield with plenty of running and passing quality.
Even if we don't have a forward to score goals for fun, what I care more about is the team functioning well and there being a cohesive system so players can come in and out of the team with minimal issues. If our players are being put into positions where their strengths are maximised, I genuinely think this could be a very good side. And of the feasible options, for me Enrique and Tuchel are by far the most likely to be able to do just that.
The (obviously uninformed) sense that I get is that our owners would be happy to defer to him as long as he keeps them in the loop and they establish a functional working relationship. But the actual correct answer to your question is who the feck knows
A vastly improved Kepa is still very underwhelming, not as good as Ramsdale, Alisson or Ederson and about par with de Gea who we're likely to replace anyway.
James is very good. Badiashille is an untested entity but he'll prove to be good I'm sure, Fofana is a crock so far, Colwill looks good at Brighton but so did Cucurella. Silva, again, is obviously very good. Your CBs are good but I don't rate any combination you've listed as better than Laporte - Dias or Saliba - Gabriel, at their best I put them below van Dijk and Konate. Chillwell is okay, I never rated him that highly when you signed him and I still don't rate him that highly now, he's behind some of his counterparts at other top 6 clubs, I wouldn't swap him for Shaw, for example. Cucurella so far looks like a bit of a flop to me.
Fernandez is another untested entity but he's only been in Europe for 6 months, what his potential / ceiling is remains to be seen, but when your rivals have Casemiro, Rodri and Partey in a similar position then he doesn't stack up that well. Kovacic is pretty good. You've not included Zakaria but I'd include him and I've liked what I've seen of him so far.
Sterling's been dreadful for you. Nkuku hasn't kicked a ball for you so no comment on that one, it would be unfair. Would also be a bit unfair of me to slate Mudryk too much as it's early days for him but your rivals are boasting some of the best wingers on the planet.
Havertz is hardly Haaland, Jesus or Kane. I'll leave it at that.
So yeah, for the money spent, I'm still pretty underwhelmed by this Chelsea side.