Jamie O'Hara argues Graham Potter must win his next three matches if he wants to remain at Chelsea. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Speaking to Talksport Radio (h/t Football.London), former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor slams Chelsea manager Graham Potter for poor squad management in the defeat against Brighton and Hove Albion.
Potter did not start star players Ben Chilwell and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the Amex Stadium as the Blues crumbled to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Seagulls. The duo came on as second-half substitutes, but the game was more or less done by then.
The manager has relied on heavy squad rotation in the last few weeks to navigate a taxing schedule. But, it seems as if constant changes in the team caught up on Saturday as the players who were on the pitch from the start lacked the rhythm and know-how of playing multiple games together.
Talking about ill-management of the squad, here’s Agbonlahor (h/t Football.London):
“This is what I’m saying about the problem with Graham Potter. When it works everyone is like ‘amazing, great rotation’ but today, why is Aubameyang not starting, why is Chilwell not starting? These players can play two games in a week.
“There’s three weeks left before the World Cup. These players can play more than Graham Potter wants to play them. Too much rotation and Cucurella looks like a bad £60m spent by Chelsea.”
This was Chelsea’s first defeat since Potter took charge back in the first week of September. So, there needs to be a perspective kept before blaming the manager. However, if you look at it from the other side, it is only two points from the last three league games for the Blues.
What that run of form has done is dropped them down to the fifth position in the table, now three points off fourth-placed Newcastle United and five behind Tottenham Hotspur, having a game in hand on both.
More squad rotation would be expected when the Blues next take the field to face Dinamo Zagreb, which for them is now a pointless Champions League group game. Having qualified for the next round as group winners already, Potter could look to rest all of his key players ahead of the important league game against Arsenal coming up next weekend.
Being critical of a manager who has done exceptionally well so far to navigate a demanding schedule sounds harsh. But, we live in a results business. Any defeat or lack of performance and the knives are out.
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