Last night Chelsea played their first football match under Graham Potter. We, the Chelsea fans, did not know what to expect from the club. We just closed our eyes and hoped for a win.
The team sheet came out and we were not sure whether it was a back 3 or back 4. Most people assumed it was a back 4 with a very weird center back pairing of Thiago Silva and Azpilicueta. The game started and it looked like a back 3 instead with sterling as left wing back. The formation looked like a 3-2-4-1, but sometimes also looked like a 4-2-3-1. Graham Potter is known for being very fluid with formations.
Chelsea were dominant and created a couple chances, but as had become a norm they couldn't capitalize. They pretty much played well during the first half, but it ended goalless.
They went in for the half time team talk, and they started the second half really strongly. A few good passes and mount is able to get some space on the wing. He makes a good cross which misses Aubameyang, but doesn't miss Sterling at the far side. Sterling curls it in, and scores the first goal of Graham Potter's era.
After that goal, everyone's nerves are settled and it looks like a sure victory from there. But then Chelsea take their feet off the pedal and start to lose the ball a little bit too much. The players played the ball around lazily and didn't look hungry for a second.
Little by little they let Salzburg back into the game. Eventually Salzburg won the ball in the midfield and were able to score the equalizer. As a fan it was quite frustrating, but at this point I'm already used to this.
After Salzburg's equalizer Chelsea got serious again,Potter made a lot of attacking minded subs and we started pressing aggressively once more, we created 2 more big chances which on another day may have gone in. One was a quick counter which saw the Salzburg keeper deny ziyech a tap in, and the other a misstruck volley from Broja. Both players who were brought off the bench could not save the day. In the end it was futile and Chelsea dropped 2 points.
Now they are currently sitting bottom of their group and are going to have to beat Milan home and away if they are going to have any realistic chance of remaining in the Champions League. To think they got such an easy group.
From the little I've seen so far we looked better offensively, created a lot more chances than we've done in the last couple of games. The problem we still have is being clinical. Aubameyang didn't really impact the game. I'd argue Broja played better off the bench. There's still time, so we'll see. Defensively, one can't say as we were rarely ever tested. The opposition only had 1 big chance (their goal), and a half chance, a curled shot from Sesko which Kepa saved.
Based on the performance of this game, I'd say Chelsea under Graham Potter may not be so bad. As usual we just need to be more clinical and the wins will definitely come in. But then again this is such a small sample size, and we have to factor in "new manager bounce" where the team plays better because it's a manager's first game. There's not so much to read from today's result, besides Tuchel also got a draw in his first game, and he ended up doing pretty well.
I'm not sure why, but I'm very optimistic about Graham Potter's era. I have a feeling he can actually do wonders at the club.
Our next fixture is after the international break against Crystal Palace. A fixture which will definitely not be easy. So much stop and start for Potter, but we'll see how he fares in the coming weeks.
~THANKS FOR READING~
