Chelsea board’s four options to replace Potter after poor Villa defeat

Graham Potter reviews Aston Villa defeat

For now, Graham Potter is safe at Chelsea. However, with the Blues’ season going from bad to worse following a 2-0 Premier League defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday, the 47-year-old seeing out the campaign is far from certain. Express Sport now takes a look at the best four options Todd Boehly and the board could turn to if they end up wielding the axe.

Julian Nagelsmann

Let’s start with the obvious.

Julian Nagelsmann is currently on the market, with the 35-year-old recently losing his post at Bayern Munich. Thomas Tuchel, the former Chelsea boss, has been hired as a replacement.

One problem with Nagelsmann is that, according to reports, he’s not eager to rush into his next job.

But Chelsea, with financial muscle other clubs can only dream of, would potentially be able to convince him into a U-turn.

Nagelsmann would be a gamble given his young age but, after doing well at Bayern, RB Leipzig and Hoffenheim, he seems to have the credentials to handle such a tough job at Stamford Bridge.

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Mauricio Pochettino

Chelsea did consider Mauricio Pochettino before hiring Potter as Tuchel’s successor back in September.

And with the Argentine still available, the Blues re-visiting interest in the 51-year-old is something that’s certainly possible.

Pochettino previously worked wonders in England, impressing during his spells at Southampton and Tottenham.

He also did well enough at Paris Saint-Germain, guiding them to Ligue 1 title glory while managing big egos such as Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

Pochettino plays attractive football, too, which is something Boehly had hoped Potter would be able to bring to the club.

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Luis Enrique

Luis Enrique is another boss on the market after recently losing his post as Spain manager following their failure to win the World Cup in Qatar.

He previously excelled at Barcelona, guiding them to a treble back in 2015.

And Chelsea would, therefore, be appointing a serial winner if they opted to turn to Enrique.

His lack of experience of managing in England could count against him.

But Enrique is another candidate who plays attacking football and he has the potential to rival the likes of Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta and Erik ten Hag should he come to the Premier League.

Antonio Conte

Why not?

Antonio Conte didn’t please everybody during his time at Chelsea but fans loved the Italian for his passion and the trophies he won.

Yes, it would be a controversial call. Especially following his failure to lift Tottenham from their post-Pochettino slump.

But Conte is a manager with a proven track record and the Blues could do with his experience as they look to bring back the glory days.

It’s unlikely, of course, but never say never.

Potter fronts up

Speaking after the defeat to Villa, meanwhile, Potter fronted up by saying: “After a defeat there is always a disappointment.

“There is always a feeling we have not moved forward, that’s fair to say. We have to analyse the performance and look at the things we’ve done well and what we can do better.

“Defensively we’ve left ourselves too open but again if you look at the stats of the game we had chances ourselves, we had one-v-ones, but the most important thing, putting the ball into the net, we were second-best.

“I don’t like to blame anybody, I have to take responsibility. We are a team, we have to stay together, we are together. We win or lose together.

“We will recover and we will prepare for the next game. We need to respond, that’s clear. But we look forward to it.”

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