"He is on drugs" "Man already has no balls" - Chelsea fans rip into Graham Potter for starting 'finished' player for UCL clash against Salzburg
Chelsea fans might or might not have been surprised to see Graham Potter field a four-man backline, as opposed to the three-man backline the club has worked with under Thomas Tuchel. However, they are certainly very angry about the English manager's decision to place Cesar Azpilicueta at centre-back alongside Thiago Silva.
Chelsea made a number of defensive reinforcements in the transfer window, with former manager Tuchel bringing in Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana. However, Potter has decided against putting either centre-half in the starting lineup for their Champions League clash against Red Bull Salzburg.
The decision has angered the Stamford Bridge faithful, who have taken to Twitter to slam their new manager. Here is a selection of tweets from the unhappy support:
Azpi at CB, we are finished 💀
Average age of that CB partnership is 60 dfkm, why are we still starting Azpi ANYWHERE in 2022 ffs
Thiago Silva and Azpi CB partnership - he is on drugs
Man already has no balls… Cant bench Azpi in a must win game.. una go dey alright
@liam_twomey We are all confused 😂😂
I hope Azpi gets spun
@AbsoluteChelsea With Azpi at the back? Nope!
azpi as a cb in a back4? potter is cooking
@UTD__J Meh tbf just want a win it’s his first line up so not his final azpi is finished but makes sense he plays his captain for the first game
Graham Potter will hope that his decision to include Cesar Azpilicueta will be vindicated and the team will return to winning ways. The two centre-backs are well into their 30s, with Azpilicueta now 33 and Thiago Silva about to turn 38.
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly mistakenly claims Premier League duo came through academy
Blues owner Todd Boehly was in the headlines following the sacking of Champions League-winning manager Thomas Tuchel after the club's loss to Dinamo Zagreb last week. He then came under fire after speaking at the SALT forum (via Metro), where he stated that Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne came through the club's Cobham academy.
However, this is far from the case. The Liverpool forward spent his entire youth career in Egypt, before starting as a professional with Al Mokawloon.
From there, the forward moved to Basel, where he spent two years before joining the Blues for a £12 million upfront fee. Salah eventually left Chelsea for Roma before returning to the Premier League in 2017, where he has reached new heights with Liverpool.
Manchester City midfielder De Bruyne did not graduate from Cobham either, instead playing his youth career in his native Belgium with Genk. After graduating to the first team successfully and playing nearly 100 league games for the side, the midfielder moved to Chelsea in 2012 for just £6.7 million.
Two years later, De Bruyne moved to Wolfsburg before returning to the Premier League and joining City.