The Daily Star Sport provides you three items. Graham Potter did one thing wrong (and one thing right) against Tottenham as Chelsea suffered another big-game setback and moved closer to being fired.
Graham Potter is facing enormous pressure after another defeat
Graham Potter’s Chelsea nightmare continued on Sunday afternoon as his side were beaten 2-0 by London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
After an encouraging start by Chelsea, Spurs turned the match into a feistier affair with a series of fiery tackles which played into their hands. Chelsea were lucky to go into half-time level after a deflected Spurs shot struck the woodwork, and Potter breathed a sigh of relief as Hakim Ziyech’s straight red card for a shove on Emerson Royal was rescinded on the stroke of half-time.
The away side’s luck ran out a minute after the break as a loose clearance found Oliver Skipp, who scored his first goal for the Lilywhites by firing the ball past Kepa Arrizabalaga from range. And things went from bad to worse as Harry Kane pounced in at the far post to score in the 82nd minute, handing Potter his tenth defeat already as Chelsea manager.
No fluidity
Chelsea are a disjointed team
Any team with eight new arrivals in a single transfer window is bound to need some time to gel together. As such, it’s difficult to put Chelsea’s lack of cohesion in attack solely down to the Blues boss.
But it would also be fair to make the observation that Chelsea lost the ball all too frequently when building up attacks, especially in the middle third of the pitch. Potter will quickly need to find a way to improve in that department if his side are to salvage anything from this season.
Joao Felix
Joao Felix was given a free role in attack
Joao Felix has no doubt been eyed as the answer to Chelsea’s barren spell in front of goal, having been given the free role in front of the midfield pivot and behind striker Kai Havertz. Yet the Blues ended their afternoon in north London having scored just two goals in their last six matches.
Felix’s inclusion ahead of the likes of Mason Mount would have been in the hope of him providing the glue in build-ups, but the Portuguese star did not offer enough given the extent of his fluid role. He gave the ball away cheaply several times and failed to play Sterling through on goal early on, opting for a tame effort instead.
The Atletico Madrid loanee was still one of Chelsea’s more dangerous players, especially in the second half, but may need a better alternative to Kai Havertz to play alongside in order to truly thrive.
Wing-backs
Graham Potter is not getting the most out of Reece James
Reece James and Ben Chilwell offer arguably the most dangerous wing-back combination in the Premier League. But aside from the odd break from Chilwell, the Blues were unable to play to their main strength – pinning back the opposition team and getting overlapping crosses in from their wide-men.
James in particular was not at his usual best and did not offer his usual dynamic performance on the right flank.
Sterling’s inclusion
Raheem Sterling was a livewire throughout
While not necessarily at his best, Raheem Sterling’s inclusion on the left inside-forward position proved a shrewd call. It would not have been an easy decision to drop new £89million arrival Mykhaylo Mudryk, especially with his arsenal of tricks and sublime pace.
But Sterling rewarded Potter in his return to the starting-11 by being comfortably the most dangerous Chelsea player on the pitch. The ex-Manchester City livewire drifted inside with his runs, permitting Chilwell to race down the flank, and was unlucky not to score in the first half.
source: www.dailystar.co.uk
