No Chelsea fan would like to revisit the Graham Potter era of the club. When the new ownership decided to sack Thomas Tuchel right after the summer transfer window, it was perhaps the first sign of how badly things were going to go for them over the following years. But nobody could have predicted it at that point.
Potter was brought in to replace him. The Englishman was highly-regarded for what he had done with Brighton & Hove Albion, and it was seen as the next logical step for him. The face of a new Chelsea Football Club.
Well, it has been proven to be a new Chelsea, alright. One that has been far less successful and somewhat unwilling to learn from their mistakes. The signs were always there though.
Firstly, if they were looking to sack Tuchel, why do it right after the transfer window? That summer, BlueCo did not have a structure in place, and it was believed that the German had a large say on the players they signed. Raheem Sterling was the star addition. There were also established names like Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was also a late addition, only for the manager to be sacked days later. It was the last time we saw Chelsea target players of that calibre.
The failures of Graham Potter at Chelsea
There is not much to talk about afresh when it comes to the Potter era at Chelsea. But looking back at it four years later, many people might have overblown how bad it truly was.
Of course, Chelsea fans were only used to success back then. Even the season before, with the club’s future uncertain, they had won a couple of trophies and had almost done a Remontada on Real Madrid away at the Bernabeu.
So, the struggles under Potter came out of nowhere and were perhaps magnified. In his 31 matches in charge of Chelsea, he lost 11 times. So, how does Liam Rosenior stack up four years down the line?
How does Rosenior’s record compare to that of Potter?
Rosenior has been in charge of Chelsea for 22 games. He has lost nine of them. So, he has lost 41% of his games. Potter had lost 35%.
But then, Rosenior has a better winning record. He has won 50%, while Potter managed a paltry 39%. There is a clear difference in level of opposition though.
Potter did have two wins over AC Milan in the Champions League. He got Chelsea into the quarter-final of the competition by beating Borussia Dortmund. Domestically, he earned draws against Manchester United and Liverpool. In contrast, Rosenior’s biggest win has come either against Aston Villa or away against Napoli in Europe. In fact, three of his last four wins have come against lower league opposition in the FA Cup. Every time he has come up against a traditional Big Six side, he has lost.
Another thing that also works in Potter’s favour is that his team never went on as bad a run as this. When he was sacked, he had actually won three of his last five games. In contrast, Rosenior’s side are on a four-game losing streak in the Premier League without scoring and have lost six on the trot when facing top division opponents.
This is not to say that Potter was a great manager for the Blues. Definitely not. In fact, his run at West Ham United raised further doubts over his quality. He did benefit from a solid project at Brighton. Everybody who has succeeded him in that job has enjoyed similar levels of success. At Chelsea, he had a squad full of Champions League winners and could not get anything out of them.
It goes to show that BlueCo have learned very little from their mistakes since then. In fact, they might be making them more frequently now. It remains to be seen how long it takes them to put a few things right and decide to change their failing strategy.
