POTTER WILL NEED TO HANDLE EGOS AT CHELSEA
THOMAS Tuchel was recently sacked by Chelsea. The main reason for this is believed to be his inability to be won over by the vision of the Blues’ new owner Todd Boehly.
Tuchel also paid the price for failing to make the team one that can score goals regularly and attack confidently. In Tuchel’s place has come Graham Potter. Potter is far from the most big-name manager in football and neither was he the most decorated during his playing days.
The 47-year-old earned praise for the way that he worked with limited resources at Brighton. He kept the Seagulls in the Premier League for longer than most would have expected. Many would suggest he kept them in the league for longer than their owners would have expected.
However, Potter now finds himself in an environment where he will be under more pressure than at any of his previous jobs. He will be managing more egos than before and there will be challenges.
Potter’s reign in charge of the Blues started with a 1-1 draw in the Champions League against Red Bull Salzburg this week.
It is too early to judge him on the result but the performance proved it will take him time to resolve the problems in his new side even though he has plenty of quality at his disposal.
Potter will also need to get better when it comes to handling criticism. He attracted a bit of criticism in his time at Brighton as the club often drew games that they could have won. He did not take kindly to this, feeling he was working to his best with what he had. This opinion can be justified but he can expect it to be far worse at Stamford Bridge which is a significantly less forgiving environment than the AMEX Stadium.
If Potter can implement his philosophy at Chelsea, he should succeed. The club did about enough to have beaten Salzburg at least 2-0. It was the players who ended up fluffing their lines.
One player from the Blues who will be exciting to watch is Armando
Broja. The youngster is not yet known to the football community at large but was in demand during the transfer window and for good reason.
He is a quick and complete striker. He is quick in the air and is a rough diamond. At the moment Reece James and Raheem Sterling are the only players who are giving the Blues something attractive when it comes to moving forward. More players need to come to the party if the club is to take its game to the next level.
The biggest challenge that Potter will ultimately face is to manage egos in order to build a clear identity within his side.