For all of Chelsea’s defensive construction and solidity beneath Thomas Tuchel, the German was given his marching orders no less than partly resulting from his incapacity to make the Blues a formidable attacking facet.
He had a plethora of ahead choices at his disposal, however even after the near-£100m re-signing of Romelu Lukaku final summer time, Chelsea nonetheless could not blow groups away regularly. Within the second half of Tuchel’s reign, they might barely squeak previous them both.
Todd Boehly’s want to construct an all-conquering soccer staff has since led him to appointing his first new head coach within the form of Brighton’s Graham Potter.
So much has been product of whether or not the previous Ostersunds boss will be capable to make the step up, whether or not he’ll be capable to command the respect of a dressing room crammed with infinitely larger egos than he is ever managed, however the first impressions have been constructive.
Potter’s first match in cost got here on Wednesday night, making his Champions League managerial debut in opposition to Salzburg at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea opened the sport with loads of urgent, vertical passing and depth. It is the form of impression you’d anticipate a staff with a ‘new supervisor bounce’ to have, however the Blues appeared much more enjoyable and up for the battle than they have been perhaps all calendar yr.
Simply after the interval, Raheem Sterling – deployed by Potter as a wing-back who performed proper on the touchline – lower inside and opened the scoring with a depraved curled end. It was precisely what Chelsea deserved.
Nonetheless, the night was soured by a late Salzburg equaliser utterly in opposition to the run of play, with Thiago Silva’s weak defending permitting Noah Okafor to creep in and rating the sport’s closing aim.
Chelsea performed with a transparent plan and id, however have been made to rue missed possibilities, and that is not a completely new story in latest instances. It is hardly an unfamiliar one for a staff managed by Potter, both.
One among Potter’s greatest criticisms at Brighton was associated to the quantity of attracts racked up the place they’d performed effectively sufficient to win. The Seagulls would usually go on lengthy runs with out victory to the irk of their supporters (which the 47-year-old didn’t take kindly to).
It was a frequent prevalence on the south coast, and it solely actually modified down the stretch of final season after they lastly confirmed some ruthlessness and put opponents to the sword, incomes a club-record ninth-place end.
Potter ultimately bought his Brighton facet firing after three years in cost, however he will not be afford that very same time at Chelsea no matter what number of stories about their long-term dedication to him creep up.
In idea, having extra traditionally prolific attackers at his disposal ought to imply that extra possibilities will result in extra objectives. However Chelsea have tried to search out that scoring freedom up to now with the likes of Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard, and it did not fairly go to these respective plans.
However, Potter is prone to succeed if his Blues play the way in which they did on Wednesday. It is on the gamers to do their half and supply the ending touches.
