What's up with the insistence on playing 5 at the back? Chelsea always look better with a 4 man backline this season.
Graham Potter | turns down Ajax job
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
I thought the same. They’ve got the players to play a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1. They’ll look a lot better attacking aswell.
It’s not
Lots of goodwill because of pretty football and XG at Brighton, but he won’t have the trust and confidence of top level players and he has started poorly.
The lineup today looked particularly uninspiring and he is continuing to not score goals, as he failed to do at Brighton.
I don’t think they will start with him in charge next season.
The lineup today looked particularly uninspiring and he is continuing to not score goals, as he failed to do at Brighton.
I don’t think they will start with him in charge next season.
He needs time and he needs to be able to make changes. There is something seriously wrong with that set of players and the culture there. If a manager like Tuchel falls by the wayside it tells me it's a tricky task to come into, and of course it's also a massive adjustment for Potter.
You have to give him a chance. If you hire a young, upcoming manager it makes no sense to issue his P45 without allowing time - you haven't hired Carlo Ancelotti. It was the same with Arteta, you had over the top analysis way too early in the piece.
You do have to start to earn credibility at some point, that's Potter's current predicament. This is not going to be a strong season for Chelsea but you have to show that your work is worth persevering with. Otherwise the narrative around his inexperience and working with big profile players will just run and run. For me this would involve finding a system and core of players. It's scattergun at the moment.
You have to give him a chance. If you hire a young, upcoming manager it makes no sense to issue his P45 without allowing time - you haven't hired Carlo Ancelotti. It was the same with Arteta, you had over the top analysis way too early in the piece.
You do have to start to earn credibility at some point, that's Potter's current predicament. This is not going to be a strong season for Chelsea but you have to show that your work is worth persevering with. Otherwise the narrative around his inexperience and working with big profile players will just run and run. For me this would involve finding a system and core of players. It's scattergun at the moment.
Spends years grafting and building up a reputation to land a top job, then it could all blow up in the space of a few weeks.
Lucky for him there's a break coming up, as I'm not sure he'd have a chance of pulling this around if the games kept coming at them right now.
Lucky for him there's a break coming up, as I'm not sure he'd have a chance of pulling this around if the games kept coming at them right now.
If Roman was still there he'd already be gone.
Yeah more than likely.
One of the weirdest collection of footballers I’ve seen. The club knows that PEA is a bad influence, his legs have gone and he is only motivated by money, yet still sign him only to start Broja ahead of him in a big game… a guy who had about 3 good appearances when on loan. As another poster mentioned, it’s gonna take another 250m to dissect this squad and rebuild it. I don’t think there’s a single player in that 11 today that makes it into man utds current starting xi and it’s been a while since you could say that about a Chelsea squad. Expect them to stay out of the top 4 from now on.
I totally agree with you, especially on Auba.
What was the point in signing him if he doesn’t get on the pitch tonight when chasing the game?
Bizarre
Sacking a world class manager and hiring that English bloke was always hilarious
Their wingers are hardly inspiring: Ziyech and Pulisic are pretty crap. Sterling is on the wane.
The defenders are quite slow, also. Curcurella, Azpilicueta, Silva and Koulibaly isn't really all that suitable for playing a higher line. But they can't play deep, either, as their attackers are not particularly quick.
They have a lot of major weaknesses no matter which formation they play. Their transfers have just been terrible for the last few seasons. Under Tuchel, they only managed to improve one area (LWB) with Chilwell and so they are left with this team, which is worse than the one Tuchel took over. No Kante and no Rudiger are huge blows.
The only other signing who looked good was Mendy, but he has become a disaster.
He won’t see out the season. John Terry as interim in March.
I didn't want to put the truth, that they'd be top of the league - it would attract too many trolls
Jesus you don't actually believe this anymore do you? He's past it, accept it.
I didn't want to put the truth, that they'd be top of the league - it would attract too many trolls
Good one!Still beggars belief they got rid of Tuchel
Yep, not just a good one, the GOAT.
They wouldn't have been any better with him. The signs were there last season they were going to struggle if they continued like that, very much in the same way they were there for us under Solskjaer in the season before last.
They haven't been playing well for over a year and got away with it last season, mainly because Tottenham and Arsenal had terrible starts and Manutd were just plain trash. Despite that, Tottenham only finished 3 points off of them.
They benefited from their challengers being poor to get top four and, now, they are paying the price for not realising that that would not be good enough this season.
There are eerie Moyes-esque vibes emanating from his Chelsea tenure.
This is what happens when you put a manager who's won nothing, anywhere, is unproven at the highest level and has never worked with the big egos of the highest earners, in charge of a team which has aspirations of winning trophies.
Potter needed a stepping stone, now he's put his career back a couple of years.
Anyway, it's hilarious that this shit hole club has again spent quarter of a billion quid for nothing, for the 2nd time.
No doubt, they'll get some name in, in the new year, who'll win them something by the end of the season, and then sack them next November.
Good grief, this club makes me sick. feck off you bunch of fecking cnuts.
Potter needed a stepping stone, now he's put his career back a couple of years.
Anyway, it's hilarious that this shit hole club has again spent quarter of a billion quid for nothing, for the 2nd time.
No doubt, they'll get some name in, in the new year, who'll win them something by the end of the season, and then sack them next November.
Good grief, this club makes me sick. feck off you bunch of fecking cnuts.
They won't win anything - they were lucky to even get top four last season. Manutd, Tottenham and Arsenal have massively increased their points haul on last season, whilst Chelsea, essentially, have continued their form of the past 12 months.
Throw in Newcastle, on top of that, and it just shows what a mess Chelsea have got themselves in. Their squad just isn't good enough for where they want to be.
They were top of the PL last December, as European Champions and World Champions. Lost 2 of their best players (James and Chilwel for the season). Still managed to get to two domestic finals and lost both on pens to the “greatest team ever”. Were very unlucky to lose to the eventual European champions in extra time (quarter finals).
Tuchel sacking was insane!
Correction, he was the GOAT, he isn't anymore and that's the point. He can't cut it in the premier league anymore, a blind man can see that.
That is not what they were like for the majority of the league, though. They fell to seventh in the form table on average from January onwards. They were fortunate that their challengers were all pretty poor.
They had James and Chilwell back this season but looked no better. What they were doing at the start of last season wasn't really sustainable, and that is also the way it turned out.
He's a very good manager, he does need time and he needs more of his own players though. It is to his advantage that the owner's hubris was on full display from the get go and it would be beyond embarrassing if he'd sack him after the whole drama of changing managers, not to forget he got a 5 year deal if I recall.
Surely you get that I was being sarcastic? Someone somewhere has to be dumb enough to take him, and Chelsea's attention seeking new owner might just be the fall guy to do just that!Only the second time they’ve lost 3 leagues in a row in a century, or something? They look completely clueless in possession too. You can’t put that purely down to the squad.
I rate Potter and believe he'll get it right sooner or later. Seeing as we have fecking Newcastle already chomping at the bit for top 4, I'd love it if he took his sweet time about it as well.
As for sacking, some people might be surprised. From what I've read, Boehly stuck with his manager at his NFL team when many were calling for his head, so once he makes an appointment, he tends to give them time. Remains to be seen if he'll do the same with an actual football team, of course.
As for sacking, some people might be surprised. From what I've read, Boehly stuck with his manager at his NFL team when many were calling for his head, so once he makes an appointment, he tends to give them time. Remains to be seen if he'll do the same with an actual football team, of course.
Just waiting for the aspire to be like Arsenal comments and telling Thiago Silva to be more like Lewis Dunk.
Good, they disgust me.
How do the resident Chelsea fans feel about the situation? I watched them today and were utter wank.
Last season we had to juggle 5 competitions and one of the most unprecedented events to hit a football club while Arsenal and Tottenham were fully focused on the league.
It's no surprise they closed the gap, if the roles were reversed I'd be firmly disappointed we didn't gazump them.
Arguably our two most important players for the positions we are weakest in Martial and Varane! They’ve both hardly played any games. If we had them fully fit we’d probably be sitting comfortably in 3rd!
It’s obviously difficult to gauge just from Tv interviews, but Potter certainly comes across as a very uninspiring coach. It would be interesting to see how much respect the players give him or how much motivation they get. Despite being a promising looking manager, he’s ultimately achieved nothing in the game so far.
Taking victory laps after a month
We all have differing opinions. I think he’s a great coach and I’m positive it will work out. Growing pains at the moment. It’s tough to watch but he’s been here 5 minutes. Literally not enough time to sway one way or the other.
You’re just giving reasons why you were shit. Let’s not forget many Chelsea fans on here, and elsewhere, were tipping you for a title charge after signing Lukaku. A few extra cup games after an early enough exit from CL shouldn’t have played that much of an impact.
Didn’t you pick up a run of form during the sanctions? Clubbing together and all that. Your run of form this season should show you it wasn’t as impactful as you’re making it out to be otherwise you’d be a lot better than you currently are
He’s a good manager I think but a terrible fit for Chelsea. There is nothing about his career that suggests he suits Chelsea’s traditional philosophy of buy peak players, sack the manager and live in perpetual cycle of boom-bust.
I understand it’s really hard to reject a Champions League club with that budget, but Potter’s taken a risk with his meticulously crafted reputation by taking on the Chelsea job. Who comes out of the Chelsea job smelling of roses? Very few.