He may even be gone tonight. It’s just not working for him there and losing to us like they did today could be the final nail in the coffin. They were limp.
A bit more knee-jerk could be a CL exit to Dortmund. But next season with no CL money + UEFA FFP on their case big time + losing 30 UEFA ranking pts would be a big storm all round.
Since the start of November Chelsea have scored 6 goals in all domestic competitions. Man City have scored 38 and they've got one game left. Utd have scored 46. City have also scored 7 against Chelsea in that time.
Premier League video assistant referee chief Neil Swarbrick is to leave his role at the end of the season: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64784642 Yeah, I know where I've posted this...
It hasn't been discussed nearly enough, but scoring goals was a major problem for Brighton under Potter. It was probably the only thing they were really bad at. He doesn't appear to have learned from that experience so while they had a noticeable problem under Tuchel, it's gotten significantly worse under Potter.
From the stats I can’t tell if they simply create a lot of low-value chances or very few high value chances. What’s apparent is that even working with better players, Potter’s teams have serious issues getting their players into dangerous areas. I don’t think it helps that while his squad aren’t exactly mutinous, it doesn’t look like his constant chopping and changing of the squad and tactics is helping get buy-in at Chelsea. Coming into a club, especially one like Chelsea where expectations are so high, mid-season, is difficult. But he’s not settled on a team or a way of playing that is getting a lot out of the group. I suspect he needs to simplify what he’s attempting for the rest of the season and that he can then coach the more complex stuff that requires more independent thinking from the players in pre-season this summer. ETH had a similar process early season at United - he tried to do a little too much too soon, then simplified it a bit, won his battles off the pitch, and started winning on it as well. Potter is discovering that there is certainly such a thing as too much too soon.
I don't really understand their squad or team selection. Potter prefers five at the back and it would appear to suit them, yet he's playing four. They don't have a worthwhile striker, so he's picking two forwards out of position. Their wingers get wide and high, but there's nobody to play to, as the forwards are too deep. Fernandez is playing deep too in order to accommodate Felix. Kante's absence should be filled in for by Zakaria, yet he's on the bench. They've got a lot of talented players, but I'm not sure how you'd fit them into a working team. Lots of wingers and a manager whose preferred tactics doesn't use wingers. Tons of options, yet virtually nothing in terms of strikers.
They done a Spurs Magnificent 7 but to a whole new level. It’s no real surprise they’re playing like a bunch of individuals and not a team, especially when there’s been a managerial change too. And on the topic of lack of goals, what I find mad is that amongst the £600m spent, not one was a genuine top level striker despite selling Werner and letting Lukaku head out on loan. An aging Aubameyang as a last minute panic buy in the summer and some rando from the Norwegian league in January that didn’t even have an envious strike rate over there is all they brought in. That decision is even stranger when they overspent in positions that didn’t require heavy spending. £60m on Cucurella when they already had Chilwell. £120m on Enzo when they already had Kante, Kovacic, RLC, Mount, Gallagher, Zakaria plus Jorginho at the time. Mudryk for £90m just seemed like a “**** you, Arsenal” type of signing, similar to what they done to us with Marko Marin - and so far Mudryk’s looking like he’ll be just as good yet much more expensive! Funny.
