![]() Perhaps then a clearer picture of Potter's Chelsea will emerge.īut that means more short-term pain for Chelsea supporters - and this is a club where patience has historically been in short supply. Instead, Potter desperately needs time and to weather this storm until the injury crisis relents. Significant spending this January seems a necessity and an inevitability, with Benoit Badiashile already brought in, but given Chelsea's raft of problems, can they simply buy their way out of trouble? Jamie Carragher offered a damming assessment of Chelsea fullback Marc Cucurella after their 1-0 loss to Manchester City. These fans have been brought up on years of success over the past two decades and won't stand for what they're getting for their money right now. It all adds to the pressure on Potter and the players. The New Year has started on the wrong foot, too. They could be heard yelling 'shoot' as their team got into dangerous territory against Man City last Thursday but once again they left Stamford Bridge having not seen their team score.Ĭhelsea won just eight of their 16 home Premier League games in 2022, the fewest wins they've managed at home since 1996. The mood seemed to shift significantly at the Etihad on Sunday, when Chelsea's usually tight defence collapsed, but their disgruntlement has been forged at home. Unsurprisingly, given that attacking output, the Chelsea fans are becoming frustrated and fed up with what they're seeing from their side. Their chance creation simply isn't good enough. They are astonishing statistics for a Chelsea team which would have hoped to be competing at the very top of the table.Ĭhelsea are crying out for a lethal striker - but their problems start further back. Their top chance creator, Sterling, doesn't even rank in the Premier League top 30 for key passes. Twelve teams have created more big chances than Chelsea, whose figure of 20 is the same as relegation-threatened Everton. That doesn't leave much margin for error at the other end.ĭatawrapper Due to your consent preferences, you’re not able to view this. They scored twice or more in each of Potter's first three games but have failed to score more than once in all but three of the last 12. ![]() Chelsea - who didn't muster a shot in the first 45 at the Etihad - are the lowest scorers in the top 10. He began with Hakim Ziyech, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz up top against Man City on Sunday, after Sterling's early injury last week disrupted their strategy for the league meeting.īut whatever combination Chelsea go with, the stats don't make for good reading. Tuchel and Frank Lampard before him were unable to find the right formula in that area of the pitch during their tenures and Potter seems equally at a lost as to what the solution is up front. Potter could not have foreseen the injury crisis which was to come when he took over at Chelsea but he would have been well aware of the team's major problems in attack when he signed up to the project. ![]() It's rarely a recipe for success and has damaged Chelsea across all competitions. It's been a frustrating series of blows which has left Chelsea seemingly treading water, grasping for short-term solutions to muddle through. ![]() "I've never experienced anything like it," Potter said about the injury crisis last week. Against Man City in the league, Chelsea's nine substitutes included four teenagers, two other players under 23, Jorginho (31) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (33). The injuries have also left them badly short on depth, with depleted options on the bench. That inconsistency in selection and formation - Chelsea have started in seven different set-ups under Potter - has done little for the team's stability of performance.įREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Manchester City’s win against Chelsea in the Premier League. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given all of that disruption, no Premier League manager has made more changes to his team since October 1, when Potter took charge of Chelsea for the first time. It has left the manager having to mix and match from game to game, with debuts handed out to teenagers Omari Hutchinson and Bashir Humphreys in the past week. The scale of those injuries, combined with the World Cup break and the congested fixtures either side of it, has also denied Potter significant training ground time with his best players.Įleven of Chelsea's 12 representatives at the World Cup went beyond the group stage, meaning a delayed return to duty.
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