Tag: Graham Potter

Chelsea turn back time as Frank Lampard appointed caretaker manager

For a limited time only, Lampard is back at Stamford Bridge

They say you can’t go home again, but if you’re Frank Lampard, you can at least stop by for a prolonged visit.

The former England midfielder has been appointed Chelsea’s caretaker manager, returning to the club where he spent around 15 years as a player and coach.

“We are delighted to welcome Frank back to Stamford Bridge,” co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali said in a statement.

“Frank is a Premier League Hall of Famer and a legend at this club. As we continue our thorough and exhaustive process for a permanent head coach, we want to provide the club and our fans with a clear and stable plan for the remainder of the season. We want to give ourselves every chance of success and Frank has all of the characteristics and qualities we need to drive us to the finish line.”

Chelsea found themselves with a managerial opening after dismissing Graham Potter just seven months after hiring him to replace Thomas Tuchel. It doesn’t take a particularly robust memory to recall that Tuchel was himself sacked back in September as Boehly seemed to believe that cleaning house was essential after buying the club last summer.

Lampard will be the fourth person to act as Chelsea’s manager this season, following Bruno Saltor’s one-game role as an interim boss saw the Blues and Liverpool battle to a scoreless draw on Tuesday.

Lampard will hold the role through the end of the season, with Chelsea reportedly considering a list of candidates that includes Julian Nagelsmann (jobless after being shockingly fired by Bayern Munich), Mauricio Pochettino, Sporting CP manager Rúben Amorim, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Oliver Glasner and former Spain boss Luis Enrique.

Chelsea’s roughly one-and-a-half season run under Lampard from July 2019 to January 2021 was a decidedly mixed experience. In 2019-20, Lampard guided Chelsea to a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, an FA Cup final, and to advancement out of a potentially difficult Champions League group.

However, they were 33 points behind the Liverpool side that won the league, lost that FA Cup final to Arsenal, and crashed out of the League Cup (to Manchester United) and Champions League (after a 7-1 thrashing by Bayern Munich) earlier than the club had hoped.

The following season started off well enough, with just one Premier League loss in their first 11 matches and an emphatic first-place finish in their Champions League group. The wheels would fall off in December, though, with Chelsea taking just seven points from his final eight league matches in charge.

Lampard’s struggles would end up in sharp relief after his successor Thomas Tuchel would lead the Blues to a Champions League trophy and a climb back into the top four.

Opportunity for Pulisic

Chelsea were clearly hit-or-miss under Lampard, even if we’re being generous, but one player who thrived for at least part of his time in charge is Christian Pulisic.

In the 2019-20 season, his first following several seasons with Borussia Dortmund, Pulisic produced 11 goals and 10 assists. That made him Chelsea’s most prolific set-up man, and only Tammy Abraham scored more goals for the club.

That represents Pulisic’s best season as a professional, and his time in London since has largely been a pursuit of that kind of form and consistent place in a given manager’s team. Even under Lampard, it must be said that the 2020-21 campaign saw Pulisic score just two goals in 17 appearances across all competitions.

Still, a new manager is always an opportunity, and Pulisic will be looking to force his way back into more regular minutes. Whether his long-term future is with Chelsea or not, it’s a big moment for the U.S. men’s national team attacker.

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Chelsea sacks Graham Potter after just seven months in charge

Potter won just 12 of his 31 games in charge.

Chelsea has sacked manager Graham Potter, the club has confirmed.

Bruno Saltor will take charge of the team as interim head coach.

Saltor will be the third manager Chelsea has had this season, after Potter took over following Thomas Tuchel’s sacking in September.

After joining from Brighton, Potter managed just 12 wins, eight draws and 11 defeats in 31 total games.

Co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali said in a statement: “On behalf of everyone at the club, we want to thank Graham sincerely for his contribution to Chelsea. We have the highest degree of respect for Graham as a coach and as a person. He has always conducted himself with professionalism and integrity and we are all disappointed in this outcome.

“Along with our incredible fans, we will all be getting behind Bruno and the team as we focus on the rest of the season. We have 10 Premier League games remaining and a Champions League quarter final ahead. We will put every effort and commitment into every one of those games so that we can end the season on a high.”

The final straw for Potter was a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday that left the Blues in 11th place in the Premier League table.

Chelsea’s advancement to the Champions League quarterfinals, secured with a last-16 win over Borussia Dortmund, wasn’t enough to save Potter amid the club’s dismal league form.

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Chelsea might just be turning the corner, win third game in seven days

Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Leicester completed a much-needed good week for the Blues

Graham Potter’s start at Chelsea has been something of a struggle, but this week things might have started to change for the better.

Chelsea’s confident 3-1 win at Leicester City — their first victory away from Stamford Bridge since October 16 — made it a perfect seven days for Potter’s side.

Last Saturday’s narrow 1-0 win over Leeds bought some time for the club, and a crucial (and largely deserved) 2-0 win over Dortmund sent Chelsea through to the Champions League quarterfinals mid-week.

Just under two weeks ago, things were so much different. Potter was telling reporters that he hadn’t earned much good faith from the club amid questions over whether he would be sacked after less than five months on the job.

Winning last Saturday and then again on Tuesday was helpful, but only brought so much in terms of stability. A bad result against relegation-threatened Leicester would have brought all the doubts back to the fore, as Chelsea could have still been in the bottom half of the table if Aston Villa were to win on Sunday.

Instead, the Blues looked confident from the start, and got their reward as Ben Chilwell’s angled volley found a way through traffic for an 11th minute opener.

Still, Chelsea has struggled to turn positive spells into wins, and Patson Daka’s splendid 39th minute equalizer felt like the kind of blow a team in such a fragile place might not respond well to. Between Ricardo Pereira’s spinning backheel and Daka’s beautifully-placed shot from distance, the crowd at King Power Stadium roared back to life.

However, Kai Havertz — who scored the Blues’ Champions League winner from the spot mid-week — popped up with another goal in a crucial moment. In the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time, and facing a wall of eight Leicester players behind the ball, Enzo Fernández surveyed his options and made eye contact with Havertz.

Leicester may have suspected a through ball was coming, but Fernández and Havertz had something different in mind: a lob, paired with a perfectly-timed run between the center backs, allowed an onside Havertz to cruelly guide the ball over Danny Ward, giving Chelsea their lead back at the perfect time.

Leicester made an effort to come back, but ultimately Chelsea did what a big club is supposed to do: manage the game with confidence, and then finish it off with an additional goal.

Havertz was involved again, getting in behind to float a cross to Mykhailo Mudryk. The Ukrainian didn’t have an option to turn the delivery into a shot, so he did the next best thing, cushioning a header to Mateo Kovačić for an improvised finish.

“It’s been a really positive week for us,” Potter told Sky Sports after the match. “Three wins against Leeds, Dortmund and today says a lot about the development of the team. It’s a hard fought game, as they always are, but in the end I thought we deserved to win.”

“Three wins in the week at this level is very pleasing,” added Potter before underlining the fact that there’s still a long road ahead. “We have to follow that up with a win next weekend and then into the international break. We will try to get three points against Everton.”

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Chelsea saves season, and possibly Potter’s job, with Champions League success over Dortmund

At least for now, the pressure on Potter is reduced

Graham Potter looks set to last at least a little bit longer as Chelsea’s head coach.

The under-fire manager got the result he desperately needed, with Chelsea advancing in the Champions League by coming back from a one-goal deficit with a 2-0 second leg victory over Borussia Dortmund.

Despite their recent struggles, a largely confident Blues side left goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga with little to do at Stamford Bridge. Goals from Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz — the former indisputable, the second the source of significant controversy — paved the way to a critical win.

Early on, it looked like Chelsea might continue to torment their fans, controlling much of the match but failing to turn that into the needed goal. Most notably, Havertz hit the post midway through the first half, and then had his 38th minute goal chalked off after Sterling was caught offside earlier in the sequence.

Sterling would at last provide the crucial breakthrough, as the England attacker made up for whiffing on Ben Chilwell’s initial cross to collect himself and power a shot past Dortmund goalkeeper Alexander Meyer in the 44th minute.

Chelsea’s relief was palpable, but this year at least, the Blues never seem to take the easy way. Marius Wolf was caught handling a cross early in the second half, with Havertz eventually stepping up to the spot.

His stutter-step got Meyer to give away his intentions, leaving Havertz with an open half of the shoot into. Fans were already celebrating, but Havertz’ casual shot hit the foot of the post before bouncing away to safety.

However, Chelsea would be saved by another VAR intervention: replays showed that four Dortmund players (and three more from Chelsea) were all clearly guilty of encroachment as Havertz struck the ball.

Referee Danny Makkelie — much to the chagrin of Dortmund players, who offered a solid minute of remonstrations — gave a re-take (as is required by the Laws of the Game when both teams encroach). Havertz and Meyer re-enacted the exact same sequence, but this time the forward’s aim was slightly better.

Fortunate? Certainly, but maybe Chelsea has been overdue a bit of luck. The goal marked the first time in 2023 that they’d scored more than one goal in a given game.

They couldn’t manage a third, something they still haven’t done under Potter. Conor Gallagher came in off the bench to finish off a 75th minute break against a stretched Dortmund defense, but once again Sterling was caught offside in the build-up. Yet again, Potter and the crowd at Stamford Bridge were denied a chance to exhale.

Dortmund finally mounted some late pressure on Arrizabalaga’s goal, but a handful of shots went straight at the Chelsea goalkeeper, and the Blues held on for a deserved win.

Pressure on Potter reduced…for now

Chelsea’s place in the Champions League’s final eight may have been something of an obligation no matter the circumstances, but for Potter, overcoming a 1-0 first leg deficit to advance may have been a requirement to keep his job.

“There was a fantastic feeling in the dressing room. We have been through a tough period and this competition means a lot for us,” Potter told BT Sport after the match. “We wanted to progress and get into the last eight and it sets us up for the next few weeks… It is great for the boys, two clean sheets after a tough period. You get that in life and it is about how you respond and the players have been fantastic.”

Chelsea’s struggles over the past four months have seen them tumble down to 10th place in the Premier League, and they’ve been eliminated from both domestic cup competitions to boot.

Potter’s tenure began on a positive note: he debuted with a 1-1 Champions League group stage against RB Salzburg, but Chelsea then fired off five straight wins, and at one point held opponents scoreless across 622 consecutive minutes.

However, a 4-1 loss to Potter’s previous club Brighton on October 29 seemed to throw them off course. That game started a rotten run that has seen them lose 12 times out of 20 games, and includes a 4-0 loss to Manchester City in the FA Cup (Pep Guardiola’s side also knocked Chelsea out of the Carabao Cup in this span), as well as home losses to Arsenal and relegation strugglers Southampton.

That run would have put Potter under quite a bit of pressure anyway. Coming after Todd Boehly’s new ownership group spent $392 million transfer outlay this winter (and just shy of another $300 million over the summer), Chelsea wasn’t expecting to be mid-table strugglers who rarely score. They’re supposed to win, and win right now, in style.

Getting into March 17’s quarterfinal draw will relieve some of that pressure, but only briefly. Four of Chelsea’s next five matches in the league are against teams from the bottom half of the table. Further slip-ups would mitigate their success against Dortmund to such an extent that those quarterfinal fixtures could see Potter battling for his job all over again.

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Pulisic back in Chelsea squad after two-month injury absence

The USMNT winger is in line to face his former team in a massive Champions League game

Christian Pulisic will be in Chelsea’s squad for Tuesday’s Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund, head coach Graham Potter has confirmed.

Pulisic has not played for the Blues since early January, when he suffered a knee injury in a match against Manchester City.

The 24-year-old returned to training two weeks ago and has been making steady progress as he nears a return to the pitch.

At his pre-match press conference on Monday, Potter confirmed that Pulisic will be in Chelsea’s squad for the must-win match against his former side.

‘Christian is in the squad,” Potter said. “He’s training well and looking good.”

Chelsea fell 1-0 to Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park in the last-16 first leg in February, and must win in London on Tuesday against a team that has won 10 straight matches in all competitions.

“They are in a fantastic vein of form,” Potter said. “Just see their results in the Bundesliga where they are winning constantly. That tells you they are doing a lot well. They have good individuals and it will be a good challenge.”

The pressure on Potter eased somewhat over the weekend, as Chelsea beat Leeds 1-0 for the team’s first win since January. But speculation over Potter’s future will quickly ramp back up if Chelsea is eliminated from Europe on Tuesday night.

Despite the club’s terrible run of form, Potter insisted that his side is in a positive state of mind ahead of a season-defining match.

“The mood has been positive throughout,” he said. “Not happy, joking and smiling, but there has been a support for each other and a good atmosphere. At the same time, you have to take responsibility that we were not in a good place [from a] results perspective. When you win a game, your smile comes back.”

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Graham Potter: I haven’t done enough to earn any good faith

It’s now one win in 11 games for Chelsea

Graham Potter appears to see the writing on the wall.

The Chelsea boss oversaw a 2-0 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday, as the Blues were yet again uninspired in a game they made way too easy for their opponents.

Chelsea has now won just one of its last 11 matches in all competitions. That’s a record that’s typically enough to get any Premier League manager sacked — let alone one who saw his club back him in January to the tune of £323 million spent on new signings.

Potter took over from Thomas Tuchel in September and has now won just nine of 26 matches as Chelsea manager. The club’s board has appeared reluctant to pull the trigger on Potter, but Chelsea’s horrific form could leave them with little choice in the matter.

Speaking after Sunday’s defeat, Potter admitted that he’s not exactly giving his board much reason to keep him around.

“The results are not good enough for Chelsea. I take full responsibility for those results,” he told Sky Sports.

“I thought the players gave everything, it’s just that the goal changes the complexion of the game and that made it difficult for us. If results aren’t good enough, which they aren’t at the moment, you can’t rely on support forever.”

Asked in his post-match press conference if he is aware that the board’s support could end, Potter responded: “There’s always that question, absolutely, and you can’t stop the questions, and whilst the results are like they are then I accept it – it’s part of the job.

“That’s just the nature of football and obviously I haven’t done enough at this club to have too much good faith and I also accept that as well. My job is to not worry too much about that.”

Chelsea will host relegation battlers Leeds next weekend. Failure to win that game would surely spell the end of Potter’s time at Chelsea — that is, if he’s even still around by then.

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At least Graham Potter still has a sense of humor about all this

Chelsea is in awful form but its coach still has the ability to laugh at himself

Things are getting pretty grim for Graham Potter at Chelsea.

After Thomas Tuchel was sacked early in the season, Potter was brought in to right the ship. Unfortunately, Potter’s spell so far has been so disastrous that he may well be sacked soon himself — the coaching equivalent of substituting a substitute.

But at Friday’s press conference, Potter showed that he still has his sense of humor, and that classic British ability to make fun of oneself.

Sitting down a bit late to begin, Potter quipped: “Sorry I’m late guys — I’ve just come out of a crisis meeting.”

The room erupted in laughter.

Earlier in the week, the Evening Standard had reported that Potter held talks with his staff in an effort to stave off a dreadful run of form that has seen Chelsea win just two of its last 14 games.

The newspaper called it an “emergency meeting,” before changing course and calling it a “strategy meeting.” But the original framing was, of course, picked up and run with by other media outlets.

Even as the sword of Damocles hangs menacingly over his head, Potter deserves some credit for finding the lighter side of his situation.

After telling the room of journalists about his “crisis meeting” on Friday, Potter was asked how it went.

His response: “Well, I’m still here.”

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Pulisic again makes case for bigger Chelsea role in scoreless draw at Brentford

Chelsea improved once Pulisic came on, but will Potter give him a start?

Christian Pulisic may not have started for Chelsea on Wednesday, but he still did enough to catch Graham Potter’s eye.

Pulisic came on in the 61st minute of what turned out to be a scoreless draw with Brentford. Though Chelsea ended up frustrated, Pulisic helped spark an improvement in the late going, nearly scoring an 89th minute winner only to be denied by a fine save from David Raya.

“I thought (Carney Chukwuemeka) and Christian did well when they came on,” Potter told reporters after the match. “They affected the game.”

The day before the game, Potter said Pulisic is “pushing for a start.” While he didn’t actually give the U.S. men’s national team captain that assignment, Chelsea did improve in the final half-hour with Pulisic — who also set Kai Havertz up for a shot that Raya saved — in the thick of things.

Unbeaten run making change difficult

Based on his performances, Pulisic’s hopes of cracking the starting 11 on a regular basis should be improving. However, Chelsea is unbeaten since Potter took charge, and haven’t even conceded a goal since Crystal Palace scored early in what became a 2-1 win for the Blues back on October 1.

That 533-minute shutout run is a signal that Potter’s choices are working, and his analysis of the talent at his disposal currently seems to list Pulisic as more of a super-sub than a starter. Pulisic scored in his only start under Potter and is making things happen every time he steps on the field for Chelsea, so it’s not like he’s failing to make an argument for himself. It’s just that with the results Chelsea is picking up, there are few reasons for Potter to consider shaking up his current hierarchy.

That said, Chelsea were largely uninspired against Brentford until Pulisic came in. That may move the needle enough that the USMNT star takes on a larger role in these final few weeks before the World Cup gets underway.

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Graham Potter says Christian Pulisic is ‘pushing for a start’

The USMNT star has managed to start just one game under his new manager

Chelsea head coach Graham Potter has said Christian Pulisic “needs to be ready” to start as he continues to fight for scant minutes at Stamford Bridge.

The 24-year-old fell out of favor under Thomas Tuchel and has not fared much better under Potter, with each manager handing the American just one start apiece this season.

Pulisic made the most of his start under Potter, scoring against Wolves on October 8 as Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 win. But in the two subsequent matches, Pulisic hasn’t seen the field.

The USMNT will likely rely heavily on Pulisic at the World Cup starting next month, but Potter said he couldn’t be swayed by any external factors when making his lineup decisions.

“You can imagine my focus is on Chelsea,” Potter told reporters on Tuesday. “I understand that all the players have ambition and want to play for different reasons, for their families, careers or World Cups.”

“That’s all fine but it’s my job to select the right team for whatever game. [I’m] not saying I am right all the time, I am not, but somebody has got to make the call.”

Speaking about Pulisic specifically, Potter said the American’s attitude has been good despite his lack of game time, and that he is pushing to start more games.

“With Christian I would say he has been fantastic around the place, been really good with teammates, contributed against Wolverhampton Wanderers,” Potter said. “He is pushing for a place, pushing for a start. Things change quickly in football and he needs to be ready.”

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Christian Pulisic capitalizes on Chelsea start, scores in 3-0 win over Wolves

Good news, USMNT fans!

Christian Pulisic is doing what he can to get off the bench at Chelsea.

Given just his second start of the season by new Chelsea boss Graham Potter, Pulisic capitalized, scoring the second goal as the Blues romped to a 3-0 win over Wolves.

The goal is Pulisic’s first for Chelsea in the 2022-23 season, and notably saw him stationed on the left wing in what was Potter’s second Premier League game in charge since moving over from Brighton in September.

Kai Havertz gave Chelsea the lead deep in first half stoppage time, but they still had work to do to rob Wolves of hope of taking a point at Stamford Bridge.

That’s where Pulisic made his mark. Initially facing a one-on-two, the U.S. men’s national team star worked inside to play a give-and-go with Mason Mount, whose pass on the turn appeared to catch Wolves unprepared. Pulisic was ready, though, and from an acute angle he clipped the ball over the approaching José Sá, a clinical finish to a superb sequence.

Chelsea would put the game on ice in the final minutes, with Armando Broja making it 3-0. The win keeps the team in the top four, and for Pulisic, a goal and a start is a great sign after a worrying start to the year saw his role at the club reduced to utility substitute under Thomas Tuchel.

The goal makes Pulisic just the third American to score 20 Premier League goals, joining USMNT legends Brian McBride and Clint Dempsey.

Watch Pulisic’s first Chelsea goal of 2022-23

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