Chelsea Sack Graham Potter

[xceleryx]

1 hour ago, flllerywhereru2 said:

I thought that when he brought him on, though I always feel that Pullisic loses the ball too much always looking for a foul that isnt always there.

Which is exactly what happened when he folded under slight contact near the corner. 

Then he missed an absolute sitter which was later ruled offside to save his blushes. 

Absolute brain dead of a player, cannot wait until he's hopefully sent on his way in the summer.

[Bert19]

3 minutes ago, xceleryx said:

Which is exactly what happened when he folded under slight contact near the corner. 

Then he missed an absolute sitter which was later ruled offside to save his blushes. 

Absolute brain dead of a player, cannot wait until he's hopefully sent on his way in the summer.

No holding back there Celery! 

Can't say I disagree though - I thought the setup was perfect for Mudryk's presence to frighten them on Tuesday and would definitely have used him ahead of Pulisic.  The guy doesn't have a future here and doesn't excel in that 3-4-3/3-5-2 either tbh.

[xceleryx]

11 minutes ago, Bert19 said:

No holding back there Celery! 

Can't say I disagree though - I thought the setup was perfect for Mudryk's presence to frighten them on Tuesday and would definitely have used him ahead of Pulisic.  The guy doesn't have a future here and doesn't excel in that 3-4-3/3-5-2 either tbh.

He's f-ing useless and said as much when we signed him.  

I would've also had Mudryk come on and looked to use his pace in behind to pressure Dortmund, more so after seeing Sterling causing a few issues doing likewise earlier in the match. Sure, he may not have defended as well but we should never have been trying to complete shut up shop at that point either. 

Thankfully it panned out but it's not as if Pulisic had any sort of helping hand in that.

[Bert19]

36 minutes ago, xceleryx said:

He's f-ing useless and said as much when we signed him.  

I would've also had Mudryk come on and looked to use his pace in behind to pressure Dortmund, more so after seeing Sterling causing a few issues doing likewise earlier in the match. Sure, he may not have defended as well but we should never have been trying to complete shut up shop at that point either. 

Thankfully it panned out but it's not as if Pulisic had any sort of helping hand in that.

The one that really annoyed me was when he got the ball on the right, had an obvious and immediate chance to play Gallagher in behind with a simple ball about 5 yards parallel of his own run.  But instead, put his head down, turned out wide, went for the corner flag and then just completely surrendered possession with no fight or even an ounce of physical strength and they were on the edge of our area like 7 seconds later.  

[east lower]

22 hours ago, Blue Moon said:

Tinkers mend pots, as I recall? So hardly surprising 

Metal  ones, or.........................................it's also another name for the non-tax paying travelling fraternity

[ROTG]

3 hours ago, flllerywhereru2 said:

I thought that when he brought him on, though I always feel that Pullisic loses the ball too much always looking for a foul that isnt always there.

Maybe, however he was less of a risk than a player who is still trying to find his feet. 

[ROTG]

1 hour ago, xceleryx said:

He's f-ing useless and said as much when we signed him.  

I would've also had Mudryk come on and looked to use his pace in behind to pressure Dortmund, more so after seeing Sterling causing a few issues doing likewise earlier in the match. Sure, he may not have defended as well but we should never have been trying to complete shut up shop at that point either. 

Thankfully it panned out but it's not as if Pulisic had any sort of helping hand in that.

The coach is fighting for his job. There is no way in hell he’s going to going on the front foot when the the scoreline was enough to win the tie. 
it was a sensible substitution under the circumstances.

[flllerywhereru2]

13 minutes ago, ROTG said:

Maybe, however he was less of a risk than a player who is still trying to find his feet. 

Yes, i agree. It's just a personal gripe i have with Pullisic, he has his good games and can play at a high level and if im fair it was one small incident in the match.

[chara]

A different angle on Pulisic...I agree with the general opinion so this is just an aside.

On my endless pc items (click bait) one article headlined..."Pulisic returns for Chelsea" that was the headline for the nothing game report..... no wonder his mind is really as Captain America not a Chelsea player...somewhere to take money and train for USMNT....sigh.

[Max Fowler]

I know this is a little off topic, but will the naysayers finally admit that KK, Cucurella and Sterling are not bad players? Credit to Potter for starting to get the best of them.

[thevelourfog]

7 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

I know this is a little off topic, but will the naysayers finally admit that KK, Cucurella and Sterling are not bad players? Credit to Potter for starting to get the best of them.

Has anyone said they're bad players? 

[Max Fowler]

1 minute ago, thevelourfog said:

Has anyone said they're bad players? 

Yes. A lot of people on here were saying that. Perhaps Sterling got the least of the three - KK and Cucu have been slated on here for months.

[thevelourfog]

51 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

Yes. A lot of people on here were saying that. Perhaps Sterling got the least of the three - KK and Cucu have been slated on here for months.

I've hugely slated Koulibaly and Cucurella. For good reason. They've largely been appalling. It's not the same thing as saying they're bad players. 

[ROTG]

3 hours ago, Max Fowler said:

KK, Cucurella and Sterling

They were all signed by TT to support his preferred 3 at the back formation. GP has just gone back to the using the TT playbook

[martin1905]

I've been extremely critical of Potter and for quite some time, has he changed my mind? Absolutely not but he has earned some more time.

He deserves an enormous amount of credit for turning it round so suddenly but we've gone from 2/10 performances to 6/10, at best, so still an awful long way to go but the turnaround has been nothing short of remarkably, more so individual performances rather than a team as a whole.

Koulibaly, Cucurella and Havertz especially have upped their level of performance massively. The question is why? It's literally overnight, not so much in Koulibaly's case who just needed time to settle but still the way it's suddenly changed is crazy. 

I think it's also worth noting that Leicester were poor and still created a lot of good chances and we have still not beaten anyone in the top half but it's definitely something to build on but still only two, reasonable performances, nothing spectacular at all. 

I wonder if it could be something to do with that rugby fella that we got on board. It's almost like the players have finally started trying and believing in themselves. I'm not trying to take anything away from Potter by suggesting that, just that the change in form, again in individual performances, and not just one or two,  more than the team is pretty staggering and I can't help but wonder why and it worries me that it didn't get sorted  it sooner. His teams have history of going on long, poor runs and I worry that if it could and probably will happen again.

Edited March 12, 2023 by martin1905

[chara]

OK..waited until this am before commenting properly.

First...credit where credit is due,,,,GP as coach gets kudos for at last getting wins on the bounce...certain players for playing as if they have played at this level before and winning an away game against the usual extra man on the pitch.

Three excellent goals and that just enough smidgen of luck at the back to get a win.

Closer run thing than might appear. As was mentioned earlier Leicester had three very good chances that if it had been Chelsea we would all have been bewailing our luck!...but that is the game.

That said...Leeds and Leicester...low hanging fruit that any top side SHOULD be expecting to get a result from,

Again shocks abound every season but in a "normal"..whatever that is..Chelsea season both the last two EPL games should have been nailed on.

Should we have a weekly competition to see who can guess what time Felix will hit the woodwork?....so unlucky as his efforts are usually sublime,I do like what he does on the pitch.

Pleasing weekend and some weight off our Forum shoulders.

A question...is the mini revival down to GP or to players stepping up?

A question not an agenda sneak attack.

I still need GP to convince me he can handle his thoroughbred squad rather than just about keeping in the saddle.

Putting aside tribalism and bias the likes of Klopp,Pep &SAF were/are in charge,,,GP has to show the same iron hand albeit in a velvet glove.

The EPL is full of nearly men coaches.......... but not at the top,

[McCreadie]

33 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

 … we've gone from 2/10 performances to 6/10, at best, so still an awful long way to go …

Both Dortmund performances were more than a 6. As were both Milan performances. How many times a year do we normally get above a 6, even if we are winning consistently? Last season, Juve and Leicester, Madrid away. Probably 3 or 4 more, but it’s never every single week, even at the best of times. 

[Willian Dollar Baby]

After a few months refreshing the old site, was absolutely buzzing to find CfcNet reborn this morning. Apologies in advance if this post is a little long I have a lot of pent-up thoughts!

 

Is Potter the man to lead us going forward? I have major doubts. Pre-World Cup he was very unlucky with a horrible run of injuries to key players so I was willing for him to get more time. Since the new year it's been nothing short of dreadful. With most of the squad back fit for a while now, not to mention a number of expensive new signings, you would have expected significantly more progress by now.

 

When Tuchel came in following SFL he got the team tactically drilled and performing within the first week. There is no real excuse for how little we've improved since Potter arrived in September. You would expect at least a form of identity or tactical instruction by now.

 

I do have sympathy with Potter for how badly the squad has been put together this year, we could lose 5 players and it would still be too big! It can't be easy to manage such a huge squad with ego's like Aubameyang and Ziyech barely getting a kick. Whilst he did a decent job at Brighton, he's never had to manage ego's in the way he will need to now. Do the players listen to Potter who has never even watched a champions league game prior to this season, compared to the way TT was able to command respect immediately? 

 

Positives - the last 3 games have all been much better. The switch to 3ATB seems to suit our players more and we have at least looked like scoring for once. To compare to previous seasons, I do still think the Dortmund performance was miles away from the quality we showed away vs Real last season for example. I believe the squad now has many very good individuals and is just a couple of key players away from being able to challenge for major trophies. Priority number one in the summer will be to clear out the dead wood.

 

I don't think there is any point making any changes now before the end of the season, we are unlikely to find anyone who can come in now and turn it around. What is vitally important is that we go into next season with the right man in charge. Backing Potter with another transfer window, a pre-season only to sack him 10 games into the new season would be catastrophic. He basically has from now until the summer to audition for the role long-term. We need to continue to build on recent performances, show tactical instructions and begin to play as a team rather than 11 strangers on the pitch. 

 

Am I the only one who dreams of the improbable return of Tommy Tuchel? 

[martin1905]

We need 23 points from our remaining 12 games to end up on 60 which would mean we finish between 6th-8th. That would be enough to warrant Potter starting next season here. Anything less and I think he will go. That means we need probably 7 wins from our remaining 12 games. A very tall order when you look at who we have left and our current league form.

3 home games in a row coming up, Everton, Villa, Liverpool then Wolves away, all are winnable.

Our last 8 games are horrible with trips to United, Arsenal and City. Brighton, Brentford and Newcastle at home. All of those are above us and we've not beaten a single team above us under Potter. We also have Bournemouth and Forest, who will be fighting for their lives and won't be easy.

I genuinely hope we have turned a corner, go on a good run, Potter proves me wrong and gets given at least the start of next season. Can't see it though, unfortunately.

[ROTG]

22 hours ago, McCreadie said:

Both Dortmund performances were more than a 6. As were both Milan performances. How many times a year do we normally get above a 6, even if we are winning consistently? Last season, Juve and Leicester, Madrid away. Probably 3 or 4 more, but it’s never every single week, even at the best of times. 

The stats say the polar opposite for what it worth 

[Max Fowler]

22 hours ago, McCreadie said:

Both Dortmund performances were more than a 6. As were both Milan performances. How many times a year do we normally get above a 6, even if we are winning consistently? Last season, Juve and Leicester, Madrid away. Probably 3 or 4 more, but it’s never every single week, even at the best of times. 

I agree.

I don't think we should judge Potter for getting results in big games and not having 10/10 performances. Countless games under Mourinho / Tuchel etc. we won without playing particularly well.

We have longed for a coach this season who gives us a winning mentality and now we have a small taste of that, the goalposts are moved and we still aren't playing well enough.

Not that Potter is out of the woods just yet. He is still to convince most of us that he is the right man for the longer-term. But should we win our next few games, then he really will definitely be here until the end of the season and we will have to make do for now.

Biggest thing for me is not our performances. Sure results, but the connection to the manager is key. To see him fist pumping etc. is still etched into my memory.

[Max Fowler]

On Tuchel - I longed for him too but I believe that the bridges are well and truly burned, at least for the foreseeable future.

I still absolutely hold Boehly largely responsible for that, but Tuchel also undoubtedly had some kind of meltdown before he left. Blocking emails coming out from his wife, reports from Simon Jordan about the eye-watering reasons behind the scenes.

One beautiful thing is that Tuchel will always be loved by the Chelsea fans - he never ruined his reputation and he will always have a special place in our hearts. Who knows - maybe one day he will return (stranger things have happened) but for right now we need to move on.

 

[Willian Dollar Baby]

20 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

On Tuchel - I longed for him too but I believe that the bridges are well and truly burned, at least for the foreseeable future.

I still absolutely hold Boehly largely responsible for that, but Tuchel also undoubtedly had some kind of meltdown before he left. Blocking emails coming out from his wife, reports from Simon Jordan about the eye-watering reasons behind the scenes.

One beautiful thing is that Tuchel will always be loved by the Chelsea fans - he never ruined his reputation and he will always have a special place in our hearts. Who knows - maybe one day he will return (stranger things have happened) but for right now we need to move on.

 

Unfortunately I think you're completely right. I would be shocked to see him back for a long time. 

He will always be loved at Chelsea, his charisma on camera was on the level of peak Jose and you always knew he commanded authority from his players. I will admit that it looked toxic towards the end and accept that there are probably things off-field that ultimately finished him here. As you say though, he never lost the fans. 

It hurts more because given the money in the PL its highly likely he will end up at Liverpool or Spurs over the next few years. I'm hoping Nagelsman gets the boot at Bayern so TT can go there. Incedentally I think Nagelsman could then be a great option for us! 

Edited March 13, 2023 by Willian Dollar Baby

[McCreadie]

1 hour ago, ROTG said:

The stats say the polar opposite for what it worth 

I completely fail to see the link between any of these pretty pictures and the point of the conversation...

...which more or less was this...

On 12/03/2023 at 14:13, martin1905 said:

...we've gone from 2/10 performances to 6/10, at best, so still an awful long way to go

36 minutes ago, Max Fowler said:

I don't think we should judge Potter for getting results in big games and not having 10/10 performances. Countless games under Mourinho / Tuchel etc. we won without playing particularly well.

 

 

[ROTG]

12 minutes ago, McCreadie said:

I completely fail to see the link between any of these pretty pictures and the point of the conversation...

...which more or less was this...

 

 

I guest it how the word countless is interpreted based on its meaning. 

Anyway. I guess the up coming matches with the likes of the arse, manure , chitty should give a better indication if there is any real improvement in the team.