"Unacceptable as it gets!" - Journalist blasts Graham Potter and claims the heat is on the Chelsea manager
Chelsea manager Graham Potter has been slammed by football journalist Sam Matterface following his side's poor run of form in recent weeks.
The Blues fell to another disappointing 1-0 defeat to Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday, February 18, prompting a critical response from the journalist.
"They've scored four goals in ten games. In six of the last ten, they haven't managed to register a goal," Matterface told talkSPORT.
“2 in 14 is as unacceptable as it gets!” 😱
🤯 “They’ve scored 4 goals in the last 10 games! This is absolutely unbelievable!”
Sam Matterface says the heat is firmly on Graham Potter at #CFC, after another loss. https://t.co/kNcM1svn3g
"Everton have scored seven goals in their last ten games. Everton have won three in the last 14. Chelsea have won two. I mean, it's absolutely unbelievable. There's two different cases here, isn't it?
"There is the immediate reaction of a football fan who watches football week in, week out and supports Chelsea, and that person will be sitting there going, this is unsustainable, this is not what we're used to. This isn't good enough. Really, the demeanor of Graham Potter doesn't lend itself to someone who immediately sort of connects with the support either."
Matterface also addressed the people who are citing Mikel Arteta's humble beginning as Arsenal manager to buy time for Graham Potter at Chelsea.
The football journalist insisted that the Gunners tactician's first year at the Emirates Stadium wasn't as disastrous as he managed to win the FA Cup that year and also had an okay outing in the Premier League.
"And then there's the long-term project people who say, right, okay, look at Mikel Arteta, look at the difficulties that he had in the early look at the difficulties that he had in the early part of his tenure as Arsenal manager," he remarked.
"But I think with that, you're sort of overlooking the fact that actually, the first year for Mikel was all right, wasn't it, okay, in the league, and end up winning the FA Cup at the end of that first interrupted season," the journalist added.
Sticking together the Chelsea way. 👊 https://t.co/XXoFPVKdg9
It is worth noting that the Blues are currently ranked 10th in the Premier League table with 31 points from 23 games. They've won just six games in the English top flight this term, to go with seven draws and eight victories.
Gary Neville advises Chelsea against sacking Graham Potter
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville recently urged Chelsea to be patient and not sack Graham Potter despite his failure to deliver in the last couple of weeks.
Neville reckoned that former Chelsea need to be patient with Potter, given that they have heavily invested in him.
"I think they'll want to do the right thing, the Chelsea owners," he said. "They've sacked a manager very early in the season in Thomas Tuchel, they've owned their new manager, they've brought recruitment assistants in alongside him, so they've invested heavily in Graham and his team… but they have to hold their nerve if they want to see it through."
"But I suspect that nerve is being tested, as any owner's would be when you've spent that level of money and you're losing games at home to the (side) bottom of the league," the Englishman added.
Chelsea will next be seen in action in the Premier League against Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, February 26.