Graham Potter | turns down Ajax job

Chief123

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He wasn't really asked to defend. He was used as an outlet for the most part. But that said, getting him into situations where he's 1v1 is generally a good idea - frankly I'd prefer he be receiving the ball wide against a single defender as opposed to being more central as has been the case this year for the most part.
He was left wing back but wasn’t asked to defend? So he was a left winger in a 4231?
 

TheReligion

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It seems the Potter era has started off well.

New signings on the bench and no feckers
can even say what tactics and formation was used.

Hogwarts finest.
 

TheMagicFoolBus

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He was left wing back but wasn’t asked to defend? So he was a left winger in a 4231?
No, because the rest of the team wasn't set up that way? Kovacic and Mount were both played as 8s in a 3 man midfield and Havertz / Aubameyang were both further forward.

Chelsea's structure was set up to have a box of the wide CBs and the 8s with Jorginho floating in the middle. It was categorically a 3-5-2.
 

Thiagoal

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Don’t know what it is but I’m getting David Moyes vibes. Think Chelsea may be one level too high but I wish him the best of luck (actually I don’t)
 

Chief123

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No, because the rest of the team wasn't set up that way? Kovacic and Mount were both played as 8s in a 3 man midfield and Havertz / Aubameyang were both further forward.

Chelsea's structure was set up to have a box of the wide CBs and the 8s with Jorginho floating in the middle. It was categorically a 3-5-2.
Anyway, regardless it was still a strange lineup he selected.

It’s not like Koulibaly and Fofana were making their debuts. They’ve already played a few games together with the team. Koulibaly probably has more champions league experience than most of the Chelsea team.
 

George The Best

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No, because the rest of the team wasn't set up that way? Kovacic and Mount were both played as 8s in a 3 man midfield and Havertz / Aubameyang were both further forward.

Chelsea's structure was set up to have a box of the wide CBs and the 8s with Jorginho floating in the middle. It was categorically a 3-5-2.
Looked like he had two different game plans. 3-5-2 when in possession, going to 4-4-2 when out of possession
 

TheMagicFoolBus

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Anyway, regardless it was still a strange lineup he selected.

It’s not like Koulibaly and Fofana were making their debuts. They’ve already played a few games together with the team. Koulibaly probably has more champions league experience than most of the Chelsea team.
On that we can fully agree mate - I just cannot understand how anyone can justify starting Azpilicueta at this point. He is a total liability in and out of possession. Offers absolutely nothing right now; genuinely a dogshit player these days.

Looked like he had two different game plans. 3-5-2 when in possession, going to 4-4-2 when out of possession
It was definitely some sort of 3-5-2 / 1-3-4-2 in possession; hard to say what it looked like out of possession since Chelsea's counterpressing was generally very good.
 

Zen

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Looking at the heatmaps.... definitely looks more 5 at the back than 4.... Cucu and Cesars look similar... James and Sterling look similar(ish), but not as much as the wide 2 in the back 3.
 

DJ_21

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Did he play a back 4? If so then why?! Are Chelsea’s owners forcing the manager to play a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1.
 

Chief123

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Did he play a back 4? If so then why?! Are Chelsea’s owners forcing the manager to play a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1.
Tbh feck knows. People are having to pull out heatmaps and training drills to understand wtf was going on. Not sure it’s a good thing not being able to identify Chelsea’s setup.
 

JB08

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It was quite clearly a 4-4-3 Boehly masterpiece.
I don't understand this joke but people keep saying it everywhere. Is it an American sports joke?
 

WeePat

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I don't understand this joke but people keep saying it everywhere. Is it an American sports joke?
Some fluff piece somewhere exposed a supposed inside story post Tuchel sacking and one of those stories was that Boehly wrote 443 on a board when trying to explain something to Tuchel. Or something along those lines.
 

Kasper

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Disappointing result today but at least it puts them in a good position for a high pick in the draft next year.
 

USREDEVIL

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443 brilli
Some fluff piece somewhere exposed a supposed inside story post Tuchel sacking and one of those stories was that Boehly wrote 443 on a board when trying to explain something to Tuchel. Or something along those lines.
Tuchel wasn't innovative enough to use that formation. Sacked for same.
 

Zaphod2319

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It absolutely wasn't.


James was nowhere near the back line all game. Don't even see how this is up for debate.
Much of the game when we were forward, Azpi and Silva were dropped deep with James and Cucu forward. I don’t remember Azpi and Cucu back wide with Silva in the middle while we had possession forward. When falling back Cucu gets back pretty fast.

 

WeePat

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I actually thought Chelsea played okay in this game. Salzburg scored with literally their one and only half chance but otherwise they were pretty terrible. Unlucky result.
 

Zen

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Much of the game when we were forward, Azpi and Silva were dropped deep with James and Cucu forward. I don’t remember Azpi and Cucu back wide with Silva in the middle while we had possession forward. When falling back Cucu gets back pretty fast.

I wouldn't go off stuff like that. They make them based off the historical nature of the player (BBC-Sky for instance get formations wrong very often).

Heres you average positions.



An absurd ... something? 3 at the back though.
 

Zaphod2319

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I wouldn't go off stuff like that. They make them based off the historical nature of the player (BBC-Sky for instance get formations wrong very often).

Heres you average positions.



An absurd ... something? 3 at the back though.
Thanks

Cucu was forward a lot on the left side. I did miss a lot of the first half driving home. Damn work during CL!
 

VP89

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Thought Chelsea played very well, just found wanting in that final third.
 

avgp_1

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I wouldn't go off stuff like that. They make them based off the historical nature of the player (BBC-Sky for instance get formations wrong very often).

Heres you average positions.



An absurd ... something? 3 at the back though.
It was a back 3, very much like the formation Brighton play with WBs playing like wingers in possession
 

STaphouse

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He was left wing back but wasn’t asked to defend? So he was a left winger in a 4231?
You clearly have never watched Brighton play.

Sterling pretty much played the role that Trossard played for Brighton , under Potter.
 

RuudTom83

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I think Potter heard TalkSport slagging off ETH for his suit and thought…that’s one thing I can get right! (first bullet dodged)

Shame it was only a draw and the inevitable Moyes comparisons have started.

All part of being a manager for one of the big teams in the Prem.
 

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Like Potter, but hope he fails because I really want the Boehly cnut to fail
 

Wilt

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Like Potter, but hope he fails because I really want the Boehly cnut to fail
Think you’ll get you wish ….they’ll both fail, well at least in the short term, don’t think potter will last too long.
 

Cantonagotmehere

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I actually thought Chelsea played okay in this game. Salzburg scored with literally their one and only half chance but otherwise they were pretty terrible. Unlucky result.
Nkunku (sp?) had a good chance or 2 didn't he? Not saying Chelsea played poorly, I only saw the 8m highlights.
 

Bluelion7

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Aside from that one lapse and goal it was one of the most lopsided games I’ve ever watched. I waited for the stats to see if I was seeing that correctly, but there was a large gap in Xg, we had 72% possession and good portion of it looked positive , especially in the second half. Aside from an odd mistake after a foul by Silva, we didn’t look even half troubled (and if Fofana was in there instead of Azpi even that goal doesn’t happen).

I thought the way we moved our shape around was brilliant. We opened up acres of space in good spots.

We lacked in quality making use of that space, and pulling Sterling for Pulisic was like voluntarily going a man down.

Gallaghers touch and everything else was extremely clunky at times. Havertz and Mount had those moments as well, but countered it with good moments.

Kovacic our best midfielder… easily. James our best player …. Easily.

Starting Azpi next to Silva… people think you can get away with it against weaker teams… but it only takes one odd counter…

That and pulling Sterling early would be my only managerial critiques.

Observation: RLC played very well. He is especially dangerous against tired legs, and he has trouble going a full 90 without picking up muscle injuries. Top level sub honestly seems his best role.

I was actually pleased with the first Potter performance overall.
 

Bluelion7

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Nkunku (sp?) had a good chance or 2 didn't he? Not saying Chelsea played poorly, I only saw the 8m highlights.
Easy mistake, the guy playing up front for them looks a little like Nkunku, but he plays for Leipzig, not Salzburg.

No, he had one half hearted header from the edge of the box off a decent cross. But Kepa caught it easy. Other than that it looked like were playing a lower tier team. We just couldn’t finish more. We had a ton of good chances, just a touch careless on a lot of them. One was called offside when it clearly wasn’t, but their goalie made the save anyway. He made 3 1 v1 saves. Which is either remarkable for him, or a point of criticism to us.


We played well though.
 

Rnd898

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Easy mistake, the guy playing up front for them looks a little like Nkunku, but he plays for Leipzig, not Salzburg.
:lol:

But yeah, agree with the rest of your post. Salzburg only created enough for 0.35 xG so it's not exactly right to say they had a few 'good chances'. A couple of half-chances at best and other than that they didn't offer any threat whatsoever throughout the whole game .

As far as the performance goes I'd say it was a very decent first outing for Potter's Chelsea but 3 points was an absolute must-have after losing the first group game so the result was horrid. Now we need to get at least 4 points against Milan to even have a chance of topping the group. At this point I'd be happy to just qualify to the knockouts from second place, but even for that there isn't much room for mistakes anymore.
 

Grande

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:lol:

But yeah, agree with the rest of your post. Salzburg only created enough for 0.35 xG so it's not exactly right to say they had a few 'good chances'. A couple of half-chances at best and other than that they didn't offer any threat whatsoever throughout the whole game .

As far as the performance goes I'd say it was a very decent first outing for Potter's Chelsea but 3 points was an absolute must-have after losing the first group game so the result was horrid. Now we need to get at least 4 points against Milan to even have a chance of topping the group. At this point I'd be happy to just qualify to the knockouts from second place, but even for that there isn't much room for mistakes anymore.
I find it a bit of a relief not to have to hate Chelsea any more. The feeling is hard to shake, admittedly, but my brain keeps remembering that you’re now just another English club with a quirky history, bought up by Big American Business.
 

Grande

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You still have to hate them. They’re still Chelsea.
That bohemian club from Belgravia with the west end hooligans and a few cup runs? Those we got Ray Wilkins and Tommy Docherty from, who later stumbled onto some good times getting Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli to play their sunset years there? Nah, I’ve got no beef with them.
 

Pogue Mahone

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That bohemian club from Belgravia with the west end hooligans and a few cup runs? Those we got Ray Wilkins and Tommy Docherty from, who later stumbled onto some good times getting Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli to play their sunset years there? Nah, I’ve got no beef with them.
Maybe it’s because I lived in West London for a while but I always found them amongst the most annoying fans in football.
 

TheMagicFoolBus

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Much of the game when we were forward, Azpi and Silva were dropped deep with James and Cucu forward. I don’t remember Azpi and Cucu back wide with Silva in the middle while we had possession forward. When falling back Cucu gets back pretty fast.


It was very obviously a back 3. Also Kovacic was the left sided 8; I'd be surprised if he had more than a few touches. He certainly wasn't a right sided pivot player.
 

UsualSuspect

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It was very obviously a back 3. Also Kovacic was the left sided 8; I'd be surprised if he had more than a few touches. He certainly wasn't a right sided pivot player.
What a horrendous twitter post. Sure, let's take a snapshot of a Tuchel game where only 1 midfielder out of 5 at the club could complete 90 mins. No Kova, no James. And then say it's indicative of overall structure...
 

WeePat

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Maybe it’s because I lived in West London for a while but I always found them amongst the most annoying fans in football.
Totally normal. It's the same reason I can't stand seeing Arsenal fans happy. I spent my entire childhood and majority of my adulthood living amongst them and I can't think of a fanbase worse than them :lol: