Inside Graham Potter's Chelsea downfall

Inside Graham Potter’s Chelsea downfall: Manager feared stars did what they wanted, NOT what they were told… while they saw him as weak, exploited over his personality – and questioned £600m spend

• Graham Potter was sacked as Chelsea boss following a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa
• The result left the Blues struggling in 11th, with the club running out of patience 
• LIVE BLOG: Follow all the reaction and updates after Potter’s dismissal here 

The scene is the City Ground, where Chelsea travelled to kick off 2023.

A few days earlier they appeared to have put their pre-World Cup slump behind them with a 2-0 home win over Bournemouth, albeit one marred by an aggravated knee injury for star defender Reece James.

Having had the World Cup break to instil some of his methods there were another few days for Graham Potter to work with his players before they travelled to then second-bottom Nottingham Forest and a plan had been concocted for Steve Cooper’s side.

Yet it did not take long after referee Peter Bankes’ first whistle for those who knew the details and intricacies of their game-plan to notice that things did not look how they should have.

Down from the stands went a member of Chelsea’s backroom team to double check with Potter if any part of the tactical setup they had been working on all week had changed.

Graham Potter was sacked as Chelsea manager on Sunday evening after an ill-fated spell

The patience of Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly finally snapped after a 2-0 loss to Aston Villa 

There were fears stars were not following instructions and instead doing what they wanted

It hadn’t. Instead, Potter and his coaches concluded this was a team doing not what they were told, but what they wanted.

It was one such occasion which underlined his struggle to convince.

But it was far from the only time Chelsea might have looked unrecognisable to – or under, for that matter – Potter and other observers.

Renowned for his coaching ability, Potter’s previous teams have had an identity.

A few promising flashes aside, similar was rarely seen at Chelsea – something rival coaches spotted even if it did not actually make their jobs any easier trying to predict what was coming.

Potter’s failure to imprint any sense of style or produce enough evidence he could take the team in the right direction contributed to his downfall.

Chelsea’s injury woes were crippling and a big reason why for a long time there was understanding from above about the difficulties Potter endured.

But on many other occasions during his reign there were eyebrows raised about team selections and other decisions resulting in a dwindling of faith in Potter that ended with him being sacked on Sunday night.

Intriguingly, there were also questions about who was behind some of them too, whether he was a strong enough character to take full command and if that was also a factor in his difficulties.

Many players doubted whether the squad had improved despite spending almost £600m on signings this season, including stars such as Enzo Fernandez (left) and Mykhailo Mudryk (right)

Several decisions resulted in a dwindling of faith in Potter that ended with him being sacked 

Indeed, some Chelsea staff are said to have had an element of sympathy for Potter, and were left with the impression he was not entirely free to manage the team as he might have liked, at times had certain things taken out of his hands and was being pulled in multiple directions.

He might have been known for his tactical flexibility but the number of changes Potter made to his starting elevens at Chelsea during his brief reign was high by anyone’s standards and not a number conducive to the forming of any consistency.

Numerous players saw their status, involvement and fortunes fluctuate drastically, adding to the confusion.

But as the figurehead of what Chelsea’s owners hoped would be a long-term project the focus was primarily trained on Potter.

Two record-breaking transfer windows left him with a squad of over 30 players to deal with but one even some players actually doubted was that much better despite being boosted by almost £600m worth of talent.

It was one being put together amid the backdrop of many other departments of the club being overhauled, including those directly impacting Potter and his first team.

The medical department restructure, which saw the departure of some popular, long-serving and welcoming faces for Blues’ stars, was said to be so drastic that at one point a senior Chelsea star was being led off  during his rehab by someone some members of staff had never seen before.

The squad transformation was also one that post-January then contained numerous players worried about their futures and where they may fit in, increasing the uncertainty and instability that in turn impacted results.

Many players were said to view Potter as weak and subsequently exploited his personality

It was Potter’s task to try and make sense of it all and caused a major headache even if diplomatically he would never make a big deal of it.

It seriously impacted his training sessions, some being carried out under the additional scrutiny of having co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali watching on at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground.

Some players might not have been part of his plans but it was not in Potter’s nature to freeze them out but instead he tried his best to keep everyone happy and involved. It was a near impossible task.

Two days after his proposed move to Paris Saint-Germain fell through, Potter was left to pick up the pieces and no doubt attempt to appease a fuming Hakim Ziyech by starting him against Fulham as part of his reintegration.

After sacking Thomas Tuchel, a manager with confrontational capabilities, Chelsea’s owners turned to Potter deeming him a manager who would align better with the collaborative approach they wanted at the top of the club.

As his reign developed, sources close to the Chelsea dressing room pondered if that part of Potter’s makeup was being exploited.

Doubts about his credentials for a job at a club of Chelsea’s scale were inevitable and felt from the beginning by many unconvinced supporters.

The Englishman was also left with a bloated squad of more than 30 senior first team players

Some training sessions were carried out under the additional scrutiny of having co-controlling owners Todd Boehly (right) and Behdad Eghbali watching on at their Cobham training ground

They were initially eased a little among the players. Some strongly dismissed the idea there were too many big egos within the dressing room for Potter to handle.

Meanwhile, they welcomed his positivity, he made an impression tactically and as a coach and, despite his understated personality, gave off a sense to some that he had something about him.

But as time wore on some Chelsea players felt circumstances demanded a stronger personality and him to be far firmer, even with them.

Sources close to the Chelsea squad pondered whether Potter had the force of character to convince players to do things they deep down did not want to like Tuchel possessed.

There was an expectation and it would even have been understood at times if Potter did things in a bid to ruffle a few feathers or pinned a few players up against the dressing room wall when things were not going to plan. 

That would have left nobody in any doubt about who was boss.

But that potentially-combustible approach is not Potter’s style, which was part of the reason why Chelsea appointed him.

Proof he can overachieve, as he had done previously in his career, was another one.

Yet he was nowhere near doing so at Chelsea and, for all the many mitigating factors hampering his hopes of seizing some control of this super club, the scale of it being an eye-opener to some new staff, the lack of progress under him was considered unsustainable.

Potter tried to keep everyone happy and involved, including Ziyech after a failed move to PSG 

The lack of progress under him during his tenure was ultimately considered unsustainable 

Chelsea’s hierarchy had aimed to ride out the storm and tried harder than many others would have to keep the faith. Certainly former owner Roman Abramovich.

Not all that long ago, even with their struggle for results continuing, they still hoped to be able to give Potter this season and well into the next one, if not all of it, to show signs of progress.

That intention was being communicated from the top though the indecision and doubts soon began to creep in, as reported by Sportsmail ahead of Chelsea’s crucial meeting with Leeds a month ago.

That was the first of three successive and badly-needed victories that bought Potter time, including one against Borussia Dortmund that sealed Chelsea’s place in the Champions League last eight.

But it turned out to be a false dawn and eventually Chelsea’s board finally had to abandon their plan following Saturday’s defeat against Aston Villa.

As well as the associated headaches, Potter was handed resources many of his managerial counterparts could only dream of.

And his inability to turn that into any sense of a coherent plan was damning along with the results – just 12 wins and 11 defeats in 31 games.

And, while he has now departed Stamford Bridge, for many reasons there will be a sense of what might have been had many different decisions instead been made left behind.

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