Graham
Potter's dream appointment at Chelsea is turning into a nightmare.
Manchester City have done plenty of damage to him and his squad this season,
knocking them out of the Carabao Cup before Christmas and leaving Chelsea
down in 10th place, 10 points off the top four, with a Premier League win at
Stamford Bridge on Thursday.
And the 4-0 FA Cup demolition at the Etihad has now left Potter and his side
reeling.
It summed up all that has gone wrong for Chelsea this term: a team depleted
by injuries, uncertain in its structure, unable to get the ball up the pitch
into dangerous areas and toothless in the final third.
It's not just their defeats to an elite City side which have wrecked
Chelsea's season, though.
Across the past eight rounds of Premier League games, Chelsea have the
fewest wins and have scored the fewest goals. Brentford, Brighton and
Nottingham Forest are among the teams to have taken points off them during
that streak.
It's their worst league run since 2010, to go with their first FA Cup
third-round exit since 1999.
They are alarming statistics and unwanted records in what is turning into a
disastrous season. Potter now must be under massive pressure and is perhaps
thankful the new ownership haven't proved to be as ruthless as Roman
Abramovich, so far.
The travelling Chelsea fans, who booed their team off and sung songs for
their former owner and Potter's predecessor Thomas Tuchel, are certainly
running out of patience with this project.
But what has gone so badly wrong? Chelsea, still club world champions,
reached both domestic cup finals and finished best of the rest behind Man
City and Liverpool last season. This is an incredible drop-off.
Suddenly, their Champions League tie with Borussia Dortmund looks like their
only salvation this season - but can Potter turn this ship around?
We take a closer look at the big issues facing Chelsea and Potter...
Injuries, inconsistency and disruption
As Potter stressed after Chelsea's league defeat to Manchester City last
Thursday, there are mitigating circumstances to the results which have left
Chelsea with just six points from their last eight Premier League games.
The quality of names on their injury list highlights how Potter's hands have
been tied in terms of team selection.
Edouard Mendy, Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell, N'Golo Kante, Ruben
Loftus-Cheek, Raheem Sterling, Armando Broja, Christian Pulisic… Prior to
Mason Mount's recovery for Sunday's FA Cup tie, Chelsea were just one centre
back away from a formidable injured XI.
The absence of James, with no like-for-like replacement at right wing-back,
has been especially damaging, robbing Chelsea of one of their key attackers
and limiting their ability to execute a wing-back system.
Chelsea's injury list
N’Golo Kante (thigh)
Reece James (knee)
Edouard Mendy (shoulder)
Wesley Fofana (knee)
Armando Broja (knee)
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (ankle)
Raheem Sterling (hamstring)
Christian Pulisic (ankle) |
The scale of those injuries, combined with the World Cup break and the
congested fixtures either side of it, has also denied Potter significant
training ground time with his best players.
Eleven of Chelsea's 12 representatives at the World Cup went beyond the
group stage, meaning a delayed return to duty.
It has left the manager having to mix and match from game to game, with
debuts handed out to teenagers Omari Hutchinson and Bashir Humphreys in the
past week. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given all of that disruption, no Premier
League manager has made more changes to his team since October 1, when
Potter took charge of Chelsea for the first time.
That inconsistency in selection and formation - Chelsea have started in
seven different set-ups under Potter - has done little for the team's
stability of performance.
The injuries have also left them badly short on depth, with depleted options
on the bench. Against Man City in the league, Chelsea's nine substitutes
included four teenagers, two other players under 23, Jorginho (31) and
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (33).
"I've never experienced anything like it," Potter said about the injury
crisis last week. It's been a frustrating series of blows which has left
Chelsea seemingly treading water, grasping for short-term solutions to
muddle through. It's rarely a recipe for success and has damaged Chelsea
across all competitions.
Familiar failings in the frontline
Potter could not have foreseen the injury crisis which was to come when he
took over at Chelsea but he would have been well aware of the team's major
problems in attack when he signed up to the project.
Tuchel and Frank Lampard before him were unable to find the right formula in
that area of the pitch during their tenures and Potter seems equally at a
lost as to what the solution is up front.
He began with Hakim Ziyech, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz up top against Man
City on Sunday, after Sterling's early injury last week disrupted their
strategy for the league meeting.
But whatever combination Chelsea go with, the stats don't make for good
reading. Chelsea - who didn't muster a shot in the first 45 at the Etihad -
are the lowest scorers in the top 10.
They scored twice or more in each of Potter's first three games but have
failed to score more than once in all but three of the last 12. That doesn't
leave much margin for error at the other end.
Chelsea's toothless attack at
the Etihad
Chelsea's first shot and their first touch in the Man City box came
in the 54th minute. |
Aubameyang, the striker signed in the summer as the answer to Chelsea's
misfiring moments in front of goal, has flopped. Embarrassingly subbed on
and then subbed off again in the Stamford Bridge defeat to Man City, there's
been no impact from him since the run of three goals in three games in early
October, and he was nowhere to be seen on Sunday.
Havertz, who has often got the nod to lead the line instead, has scored
important goals for the club in the past but his record of four in 16
Premier League appearances this term is a reminder he's never going to be
the prolific frontman Chelsea are looking for.
Vast sums have been spent on players such as Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner
but it seems Chelsea will have to spend much more in this department in the
future.
But it's not necessarily just about the final touch. Chelsea have scored
marginally more than their Expected Goals figure in the league this season.
It's their chance creation which is as much to blame.
On Sunday, their first touch in the opposition area came after 54 minutes,
with the team looking lost in terms of how to break through their opponents.
Chelsea's attacking problems
at Stamford Bridge
At home in the Premier League, only Bournemouth have had fewer
shots, only Wolves have had fewer shots on target |
Only Bournemouth have had fewer shots at home in the Premier League; only
Wolves have had fewer shots on target on their own patch. Their average
figure of 11.1 shots per game prior to the league game with Man City ranked
as their lowest output on Opta records.
It all points to a lack of attacking intensity and craft - and the chance
creation stats back that up.
Twelve teams have created more big chances than Chelsea, whose figure of 20
is the same as relegation-threatened Everton. Their top chance creator,
Sterling, doesn't even rank in the Premier League top 30 for key passes.
They are astonishing statistics for a Chelsea team which would have hoped to
be competing at the very top of the table.
Chelsea are crying out for a lethal striker - but their problems start
further back. Their chance creation simply isn't good enough.
Fan frustration
Unsurprisingly, given that attacking output, the Chelsea fans are becoming
frustrated and fed up with what they're seeing from their side.
The mood seemed to shift significantly at the Etihad on Sunday, when
Chelsea's usually tight defence collapsed, but their disgruntlement has been
forged at home.
They could be heard yelling 'shoot' as their team got into dangerous
territory against Man City last Thursday but once again they left Stamford
Bridge having not seen their team score.
Chelsea won just eight of their 16 home Premier League games in 2022, the
fewest wins they've managed at home since 1996. The New Year has started on
the wrong foot, too.
It all adds to the pressure on Potter and the players. These fans have been
brought up on years of success over the past two decades and won't stand for
what they're getting for their money right now.
The league loss to Man City means Chelsea have failed to beat a top-half
team this season across seven matches and they didn't lay a glove on Pep
Guardiola's side across two cup ties. There really has been little for the
Blues' followers to savour so far this term.
Jamie Carragher pointed out last week that, despite spending a Premier
League record £278.4m in the summer transfer window, Chelsea feel further
away from where they want to be.
Significant spending this January seems a necessity and an inevitability,
with Benoit Badiashile already brought in, but given Chelsea's raft of
problems, can they simply buy their way out of trouble?
Instead, Potter desperately needs time and to weather this storm until the
injury crisis relents. Perhaps then a clearer picture of Potter's Chelsea
will emerge.
But that means more short-term pain for Chelsea supporters - and this is a
club where patience has historically been in short supply. Writing off a
season, even before it's even reached its halfway point, is not acceptable
at Chelsea.
If Potter is to survive, it could be an extremely rocky few weeks or even
months ahead.
This campaign has been a crushing blow for supporters and also for new owner
Todd Boehly, given the huge sums he invested to take over from Abramovich -
and the knock-on costs of missing out on Champions League football next
season, should Chelsea fail to make the top four, will be extremely
expensive.
City have put Chelsea's problems into sharp focus but the issues are
stacking up and there doesn't look to be an easy answer for Potter and his
players right now.
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