Chelsea scored another victory last night under the new reign of Graham Potter.
It was a hard-fought 2-1 victory over RB Salzburg in the Champions League, and they not only clinched victory but also topped their group and cemented a place in the next round of the competition. When you think about the state they were in in this competition when Potter took over, it’s a remarkable change.
Salzburg had not lost at home for 40 games before this, and it was Potter’s Chelsea who ended that unbeaten run.
Potter remains unbeaten as boss of the Blues and in fact Potter is the first Chelsea manager to go unbeaten in his first 4 Champions League games since Roberto Di Matteo in 2012. We all know what happened in 2012…. . Do not say it.
But his record since he arrived is truly admirable. He managed 9, won 6, drew 3, had 0 losses, scored 15 and only conceded 4. Super impressive stuff.
#Chelsea remains unbeaten under Graham Potter ???????? pic.twitter.com/JQQcyiudPU
— Talk Chelsea (@talkchelsea) October 25,
To me, this really shows that the players are responding not only to Potter as a person and as a manager, but also to his tactics and setup. His tactics are sporadic and he regularly changes formations from game to game, and especially in-game. You always see him change from three to four, depending on the opposition and the circumstances.
Players are certainly playing for him and enjoy doing so.
“Everyone has loved working with him. [Potter] until now”, said Conor Gallagher after the victory in Salzburg. “Yes, it is different, with different formations to suit the game. Everyone is working hard for him and the club”.
“I think people can see that with the results and the performances. We are happy to qualify and keep up the good run”.
I think he is perfect here; we can all clearly see how much and how well players are responding to Potter. They look like a unit that is attached, let’s hope it lasts, since we’ve all seen this before, right!?
