Graham Potter running out of time to turn things around at Chelsea after West Ham stalemate
All the fanfare and optimism that greeted Chelsea's gargantuan January transfer window appears to be fading away with each passing week.
The Blues undoubtedly excelled at the transfer window, bringing in a couple of marquee signings, but so far the impact is yet to be felt on the pitch. Despite assembling the Premier League’s most expensive squad, Graham Potter continues to struggle to get them to play flamboyant football and win games.
Chelsea have won just two of their last 13 games across competitions and were once again very poor at West Ham United on Saturday (February 11), drawing 1-1.
Honours even this afternoon.
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Chelsea drop points again
Chelsea’s form in the Premier League has been nothing short of atrocious. The new signings were expected to give the team a lift, but that has not reflected in the results.
Enzo Fernandez, Benoit Badiashile and Joao Felix have been the brightest spots, but fellow big-money signings Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke are yet to glitter since moving to London.
Against West Ham, the Blues made a great start, with Fernandez and Felix combining to open the scoring – the former pinging a pin-point ball to Felix to score.
However, the Blues never had complete control, with West Ham growing into the game as the minutes ticked. It took just 12 minutes for the Hammers to equalise, and as fate would have it, it was former Chelsea defender Emerson who did the damage.
Potter’s side has now drawn their last three Premier League games. While that's a slight improvement on previous results, it’s still not good enough. The Blues continue to drop valuable points, which dampens their chances of qualifying for Europe next season.
Potter running out of time
Amidst their struggles, a chunk of the blame has been directed towards Potter. Minutes after Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with West Ham, thousands of fans took part in a Twitter poll and voted in favour of the manager being sacked.
Two weeks ago, such calls would’ve been premature, but the fact that results are yet to improve leaves Potter on a very short leash. He’s gradually running out of time to turn things around, and another poor performance could put the final nail in his managerial coffin at Chelsea.
When Potter addressed the media after Saturday’s game, he touched on a few things he has been trying to implement at the Blues. He also tacitly solicited time to get the new players in tune with his methods, but unfortunately, he doesn’t have that luxury at the moment. Potter told Chelseafc.com:
“It is a challenge but it is my job. It is exciting; it tests you because you have to make sure you communicate properly and manage the environment as otherwise, it can go not very positively - but it has been a really good training week,” he said.
Potter continued:
“The spirit in the group is really good; there is big, healthy competition for places, and we need that, and then you have to have honest conversations and respect that players will be disappointed. These are top professionals, and they handle themselves well."
The manager concluded:
“The second half was more a reflection of where we are as a group in terms of players coming up to speed, returning from injury and players adapting to the Premier League. That is the work in progress, but it was a step forward from the previous game. … But I can completely understand that people are frustrated if we don’t win.”
The Blues' next game is against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg before they host Southampton in the Premier League next week. These two games could decide whether Potter stays on or leaves, but he’s running out of time to convince, and that doesn’t auger well for him.