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7 things Graham Potter must fix at Chelsea to turn things around

Ben Stewart •

Graham Potter is under huge pressure at Chelsea right now as his side currently sit 10th in the Premier League table and have been miles off the pace this season.

Since taking over at Stamford Bridge, Potter has a win percentage of just 34.6% and Chelsea now find themselves having only won one of their last 11 games across all competitions.

Potter has several fires to put out right now at Chelsea and we’ve identified the seven things he will need to fix if he is to turn things around.

Settle on his best XI

Todd Boehly’s scattergun approach to transfers probably hasn’t helped Potter in this regard as he is now working with a bloated squad. In the Premier League alone, Chelsea have used 32 players this season.

Potter seems to have now settled on the 4-2-3-1 formation, but he now must decide what on his best XI is in order to establish some consistency. Injuries haven’t helped, but he needs to find his best XI soon.

Find a source of goals

Chelsea have now only scored six goals across their last 16 matches in all competitions. The biggest conundrum Potter needs to fix is Chelsea’s lack of firepower.

So far this season they have only scored 23 league goals, which is the seventh-lowest in the Premier League. Kai Havertz is their top league scorer with five goals, but even he has found it tough under Potter.

Chelsea can not afford to rely on one player for goals as they need their midfielders and wingers to chip in with more goal contributions.

Control the media narrative 

Jose Mourinho was the master of this as even when things were going wrong, he had the foresight to flip the script in the media. Plenty of fans and pundits alike have questioned if Potter is maybe even too nice for the job.

“I think part of the problem here and he’s had it pushed at him already, is like, is he too nice for this job?” Football journalist Dean Jones told GiveMeSport. “I think that more of the problem is, has he got the ego for this job?”

Rekindle his relationship with Chelsea fans

Winning football matches will be the best way Potter can go about rekindling his relationship with the fans. Replacing Thomas Tuchel was always going to be a tough gig, but Potter has struggled to establish that relationship so far.

Chelsea fans quickly became accustomed to Roman Abramovich’s hiring and firing policy at Stamford Bridge and it is up to Potter to reconnect the fans.

Beat Borussia Dortmund

Chelsea’s league campaign is pretty much dead in the water right now. They currently sit 10th in the table and are 14 points adrift of a Champions League spot.

While the Premier League campaign is all but over, they still stand a chance in Europe. Chelsea lost the first leg in Germany, despite having 21 shots on the night.

A promising European run might just be enough to keep Potter in the job, but they will need to turn around the 1-0 deficit in the second leg.

Develop Chelsea’s young stars

Potter’s coaching abilities were clear to see at Brighton as he made most of his side better footballers by the time he left the club. Potter needs to showcase a similar coaching prowess at Chelsea, specifically with their young stars.

If he is able to hone the talents of the likes of Mykhailo Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez then he will have done his job. The clock is ticking, but Potter has a track record for developing young stars.

End the winless run

The most pressing issue Potter is facing right now is the winless run they currently find themselves on. Chelsea have failed to win any of their last five league games and are winless in six across all competitions.

Chelsea managers of years gone by have set the bar at Stamford Bridge and this sort of winless run is unprecedented. Chelsea’s next four league games are all against sides in the bottom half and so this will be Potter’s best chance to turn around their form.

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