The search for a new manager is over. Chelsea have officially announced that they have appointed Graham Potter as their new manager as they exercised Potter’s £16M release clause with Brighton.
This wasn’t a great surprise, considering Todd Boehly’s infatuation with the English manager and Tuchel’s legacy as the last Roman Abramovich appointment. Now, I can’t prove that Boehly wanted to remove all elements of Abramovich’s reign, but he did already fire the long serving hierarchy (ex: Director of Football, Board Members, Advisors, etc.) that Abramovich hired prior to the start of the season.
Tuchel was the last figure remaining from that era. And it would have been extremely unjustified if Boehly fired him before Chelsea’s current dip in form as he had a tremendous amount of success with the Blues.
The man had won the Blues the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup during his time with the club. Sacking him before the season would have been one of the worst things Boehly could have done to start off his reign as owner.
Nevertheless, Tuchel is now gone, and Potter has taken his place. The only question that remains is: can Graham Potter be successful at Chelsea?
The step between managing Brighton and the expectations that come with the club to managing Chelsea and the expectations that come with that job couldn’t be any more extreme. For years, Potter’s only responsibility was to keep Brighton in the Premier League with the cheapest squad possible. Any success, whether that be league position, trophies, or style of play, on top of that was a bonus.
At Chelsea, he’s going to be expected to turn this squad back into title and Champions League contenders on instantly, consistently win trophies, and implement an attacking style of football that the fans will enjoy.
Obviously, that’s a huge ask for a manger that has only coached at the top level once (his job with Brighton), even if he’s had a tremendous amount of relative success there. Not to mention that Potter is going to have to coach and motivate players who have had 20X more experience and success in not only the Premier League, but also around the world with some of the biggest clubs.
If Potter can get these players on board with his ideas and strategies, then I think he will succeed.
But, if he cannot convince these players he knows what he’s doing, and is unable to reverse Chelsea’s slump, he may be out of the job by the season’s end. Such is life when you are a manager of Chelsea.
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