Comparing Mauricio Pochettino and Graham Potter’s Premier League records at Chelsea

Nestor Watach • 05 Feb 2024

Mauricio Pochettino has now taken charge of more Premier League games at Chelsea than his predecessor Graham Potter – but things haven’t improved much at all, which raises big questions over the Argentinian’s future at Stamford Bridge.

In September 2022, Graham Potter was appointed to spearhead Chelsea’s new Todd Boehly era. Having established a reputation as one of the best young coaches in the Premier League during his time at Brighton, the 48-year-old was given the reins to make a cohesive unit out of the big-spending Blues’ new-look squad.

Potter made a promising start as Chelsea manager, but the team struggled for consistency and results failed to pick up after considerable investment in the January transfer window. He was sacked in April 2023 after less than seven months at the helm. A 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa had left Chelsea sitting 11th in the table, 12 points off the top four.

“We have the highest degree of respect for Graham as a coach and as a person,” co-controlling owners Boehly and Behdad Eghbali said in an official club statement.

“He has always conducted himself with professionalism and integrity and we are all disappointed in this outcome.”

Things got even worse as club legend Frank Lampard endured a miserable return as interim manager, while things have failed to pick up under Pochettino after yet more overhauling of the squad last summer.

Pochettino has guided Chelsea into the final of the League Cup, and overseen an improvement in the club’s home form, but Chelsea once again find themselves 11th in the Premier League table and a long way off the Champions League qualification places. A 4-2 home defeat to Wolves leaves Pochettino’s men 15 points adrift of fourth-placed Aston Villa.

“We are not good enough [today],” Pochettino told reporters following the loss against Wolves.

“Myself, also. I’m responsible for this situation. What we showed today was not good enough. We didn’t manage the situation properly and of course no one can be safe. I don’t want to come here and say I am the best. We’re all responsible.

“The players need to take responsibility like I take responsibility. At the moment we’re not matching the history of the club. That’s true. We need to accept it, be critical but we cannot give up. We’ll work hard to change. If it’s not working in this way, we need to move on and find a different solution.”

We’ve taken a closer look at how Pochettino’s Premier League record in charge of Chelsea stacks up against Potter’s.