Graham Potter was finally dismissed as Chelsea FC manager on Sunday night with a club statement confirming that members of Potter’s coaching staff would stay on at the club, including Bruno Saltor who has been given the responsibility as interim manager.
On the 20th February, I put out exclusive news on LondonsFirst with sources confirming to me that the dressing room was split over what they thought of Potter, some were disinterested with life under the former Brighton boss whilst the owners and the new hierarchy were at the same time continuing to monitor progress in the background as well as discussing the overwhelmingly negative fan reaction.
Fast forward to Sunday and Monday, many stories had been published from top-tier Journalists such as Matt Law, Sami Mokbel and others, stating very similar lines to what I was told.
The Athletic even stated that the hierarchy was “taken aback” by the way the fans express anger when things go south, although some simply refused at the time to believe what I was saying as is often the case with social media.
On Sunday morning at 20 past midnight local time in the UK, I received a message saying that Christopher Vivell had pushed for the sacking of Graham Potter after the Aston Villa result and as it turned out, everyone had had enough and Potter was gone 20 hours later.
Bruno Saltor who I mentioned is now in charge on an interim basis came across professionally during his press conference yesterday and personally, I appreciate the positive attitude towards the situation despite the fact his leader received the sack. Bruno confirmed that he would try and do the best for the club in the time that he still has being a part of it – something that Chelsea fans should appreciate.
Indeed, no one really knows what to expect tonight against Liverpool, but one thing is for certain, no matter how well Bruno does, Chelsea should not get fooled by any new manager bounce and employ him permanently. The Graham Potter affiliate confirmed that tonight will be the first ever time he has had to pick a starting eleven.
Bjorn Hamberg, one of Potter’s regular assistants on the bench, will also take charge and conducted a training session alongside Bruno Saltor and an u23 coach on Sunday afternoon following the confirmation that other assistant Billy Reid had left the club.
The next permanent Chelsea manager
The favourites as things stand according to well placed sources seem to be Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique. Let’s kick things off by talking about Luis Enrique..
I was told on the 26th February that Chelsea were offered the chance to make Luis Enrique their permanent manager, this was the evening of the 2-0 defeat to Spurs.
Enrique is thought to want to work in London as Fabrizio Romano reported and could be an interesting option for Chelsea. His major successes as a coach came with Barcelona, where he won a stack of trophies, including the UEFA Champions League.
Some argue that he only did so due to that particular Barcelona side being one of the best teams ever and that his time with Spain at the World Cup amongst his stints at Roma and Celta Vigo were not impressive.
Nevertheless, Fabrizio Romano reported yesterday that some Chelsea hierarchy members are admirers of Luis and his abilities, alongside his personality and man-management skills.
Should Enrique join Chelsea, the Blues would likely line up in a 4-3-3 formation and can expect to be intensely drilled in heavy possession-based football with technical players like Joao Felix and Enzo Fernandez likely benefitting the most from his coaching short term.
In some ways, Enrique would bring similar coaching characteristics as Maurizio Sarri did and at times Chelsea played some wonderful Football under the Italian, but there were also times when the match going fans got disinterested and frustrated with the amount of insignificant passes the team made before a shot on goal.
That particular fan anger was further amplified by the Italian’s non-existent attempts to build a rapport with the fans from day one of the job (this does not, of course, excuse the poor behaviour of the fans chanting insults against his footballing ideas).
With Enrique, you know for certain that his appointment would send out a statement to other Premier League clubs and the players of Chelsea. Enrique is respected for his career and would demand respect from the players more than Graham Potter did.
I do have my concerns over his adaptability, my research concluded that he has dabbled with 3-4-2-1 and 3-4-3 but he really does love the 4-3-3. Some could argue that this Chelsea side needs to be coached in a set way, Potter did have a tendency to change the team and system a lot with some reliable sources saying that was an issue with the players.
Chelsea could be all well and good for a period of time, but what happens several months into Enrique’s tenure when teams start figuring out his tactics? Is he adaptable enough? Will he stick to his principles like Sarri did? If so, will that work or hamper the side’s progression? These are all important questions that the Chelsea hierarchy must attempt to accurately answer.
Luis used a total of 43 players when qualifying for the World Cup with Spain and tinkered slightly with his forward options during the matches in Qatar but overall Enrique’s tendency is to have a set team and a set way of playing and with Chelsea’s huge squad and more investment to come, questions have to be asked about his fit.
What about Julian Nagelsmann?
Nagelsmann on the face of it seems the favourite candidate and perhaps the best fit out of every coach who has been reliably linked.
The German, who was recently sacked from Bayern, has strong ties to Chelsea directors Christopher Vivell and Laurence Stewart, having worked with both as part of the Red Bull group. From that point of view, Nagelsmann would feel comfortable from day one as two key hierarchy members would have his support over any squad related issues that may arise.
Nagelsmann is another charismatic character and I could see him really connecting with the fans, something that we have missed since the departure of Thomas Tuchel.
He is a manager who is flexible with his team selections and systems and likes to bring on subs earlier rather than later and importantly, has worked with a bunch of young players during his time at RB Leipzig.
Nagelsmann is credited with the development of Christopher Nkunku, Ibrahima Konate, Dayot Upamecano and Andrej Kramaric, amongst others.
As for Chelsea, he would likely deploy either a 3-4-3 or 4-2-3-1 and has always put a massive emphasis on studying and adapting to the opponents his team face, with dedicated assistant Benjamin Gluck helping with opponent analysis.
The fact that Christopher Nkunku is set to join Chelsea in the summer is another tick in the box for the German’s appointment in West London.
One thing we also need to emphasise is his impressive Champions League record, reaching the Semi Finals with RB Leipzig and winning all eight matches this season with Bayern Munich in which he faced teams like PSG and Inter Milan.
So, what are the con’s? He has Champions League experience, he is charismatic, he has shown credible evidence of player development whilst also proving his tactical prowess on multiple occasions.
If you ask me, I would say that having no evidence of work outside the Bundesliga is a risk, as well as his ability to translate the fluid football seen at Bayern and RB Leipzig in the Premier League. One search on Youtube of the goals his Leipzig side scored and you will see that whilst many of them are beautifully built up and executed, there is naturally a lot of space and less deep blocks to tackle.
If Nagelsmann can provide the Chelsea hierarchy with a plan to tackle the deep blocks in England whilst also promising to regularly collaborate with the owners, provide the charisma as well as offering a winning mentality and promise to develop the young talents signed so far, then he could be the perfect fit.
Chelsea’s ownership
It is fair to say that Todd Boehly and Behdad Egbhali have taken some stick from industry professionals since their arrival, fair points are made about the nature of Thomas Tuchel’s sacking and not only the decision but also the crazy money spent on hiring Graham Potter and his staff.
However, I truly do believe that despite some mistakes, they have the best interests in Chelsea at heart, they have shown me that by sacking the man they planned to die alongside. I was starting to get concerned that ego’s were at play and that they would not bite the bullet but they did and that is ultimately all that matters at this very moment in time.
You can argue that Potter should have been dismissed after defeats to Spurs and Southampton or perhaps even earlier and fans had a right to be annoyed but the decision has been made now and we must also show true appreciation to the fact that the owners have spent an incredible amount of money since their arrival whilst also putting in place a hierarchy structure with proven and credible individuals very quickly.
Not only that, but reports suggest they are keen on building a multi-club model where talents signed by the club will be sent out to a sister side to develop with the hope they can either break into the first team or be sold for generous profits.
Once again, the owners show they know what they are doing and have a plan – they enlisted super agent Jorge Mendes to help with the club search. Key countries of immense talent production and development are being looked at including France and Portugal.
They have invested heavily, want to build a multi-club model, have been ruthless enough to sack two managers in the space of a few months in order to find the right fit for their project, implemented a flexible and high level hierarchy structure that we have not had before whilst also regularly engaging in fan discussions and suggestions via supporter groups.
All of the above is without mentioning the ownership’s commitment to delivering either a brand new 60,000+ seater stadium or rebuilding Stamford Bridge.
The lunacy that some of the media express when talking about Todd Boehly and Behdad Egbhali is hilarious and just goes to show how many outlets and individuals simply ignore the facts in order to instead push the negative points and sometimes false narratives in order to pursue clicks and reaction.
In conclusion, Chelsea are very well set up and in good hands within the club’s hierarchy to deliver regular trophies in the future, it is now down to those involved to select the right man this time around and start forcing lips to be shut from those who simply want nothing other than for Chelsea to fail or to be right about a false narrative they chose to pursue themselves in the first place.
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