“As challenging as there has been”- Graham Potter makes surprising claim about his current stint with Chelsea

Chelsea boss Graham Potter admits the current period is the toughest of his career

As quoted in the Guardian, Chelsea manager Graham Potter has admitted that he is undergoing the toughest spell of his managerial career.

Potter, who was appointed as the Blues boss on September 8, 24 hours after the departure of Thomas Tuchel, has had a difficult time at Stamford Bridge so far.

His arrival was matched by a glut of important games in quick succession for Chelsea, meaning he had no time to prepare the team as per his tactics in a detailed manner. Having no pre-season with this team also played a factor in the slow start to his tenure in west London.

Here’s what Potter said when asked about the current challenge at Chelsea (h/t Guardian):

“It’s been a really tough period, as challenging as there has been in my time as a coach. But you know, we’re Chelsea and people don’t want to hear those reasons, stroke excuses. You’ve got to get on with it and try your best to find the answers.”

After a slumping end to the first half of this season, where the Blues did not win a domestic game in six, they resumed the campaign with a convincing 2-0 win over Bournemouth on Wednesday.

As much as that was good to see, it was disappointing to watch Reece James pull up again and be ruled out for another few weeks, having just come back from a long-term injury he suffered in October that ruled him out of the World Cup.

Add to that the injuries picked up by Armando Broja (season-ending) and Wesley Fofana (a few weeks) during the friendlies earlier this month, the situation does not become easy for Potter. N’Golo Kante is still out, having picked up his injury back in August.

We have seen promise and inconsistency from our team under Potter. With what sort of situation he has been through since coming through the door at the Bridge, we would have expected the earlier parts of his spell to be difficult.

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But, at a big club like Chelsea, excuses are not part of the plan. The manager needs to find a way to get this team playing better football and win games consistently.