Chelsea boss Potter told his mistakes are to blame for Brighton loss

Graham Potter post Brighton

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Graham Potter’s tactical errors and selection choices were to blame for Chelsea’s heavy defeat at Brighton, according to ex-Chelsea player Scott Minto. The Blues head coach suffered his first Premier League defeat at the hands of his former club, who produced a fine performance to hand Roberto De Zerbi his first victory as manager.

Goals from Leandro Trossard and Pascal Gross, in addition to own goals from Blues pair Trevoh Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, laid bare the defensive frailties that exist as Potter struggled to cope with recent injuries to the side.

Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly and Reece James were all sidelined, yet Potter persisted with a 3-4-3 formation that included using Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic as attacking wing-backs. It proved to be an error from the tactician as Solly March and Pervis Estupinan enjoyed freedom in the wide areas as Chelsea struggled to contain Brighton’s attacking threat.

And Minto, a former Chelsea defender between 1994 and 1997 who is now a TV presenter and pundit, was critical of the 47-year-old’s mistakes in preparing his side for the match at the Amex Stadium.

“You look at the team selection and I just thought, straightaway, he’s picking the wrong formation, he’s picking the wrong players,” Minto told talkSPORT.

“Let’s start by saying I’m a big Graham Potter fan and while I didn’t want [Thomas] Tuchel to get sacked, I’m really pleased he got an opportunity to come in. But there’s only so many times you can start off with the wrong formations and then change it, so fair play to him for seeing things, although he clearly couldn’t yesterday.”

Potter made a tactical substitution after 35 minutes in their 1-1 draw with Manchester United in the previous game, substituting Marc Cucurella in the first half, which had a notable effect on the momentum of the match as Chelsea struggled from the off.

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But on this occasion, his changes made little difference as his Chelsea side made it three games without a win in the Premier League. And Minto aired his concern that Potter continues to misjudge his starting XI, warning he cannot continue to bring off Cucurella to change their formation and style of play.

“You can’t keep on taking off Cucurella and I feel sorry for him as well,” he added. “He’s not a left-sided centre-back and playing in the three there.

“You just knew that Brighton would be up for this game. They were almost like a jilted lover, both fans and players, that were always going to be up for it. You [also] don’t play two wingers as wing-backs.”

Chelsea face a critical period before the World Cup break, facing Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, Arsenal in the London derby and Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.

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