Ferdinand explains Potter sacking decision as Chelsea linked with replacements
Rio Ferdinand, a former Manchester United defender, thinks that the recent change of culture at Chelsea’s club has led their new owners to support the head coach, Graham Potter, despite mounting pressure on his future.
This is because the team has been struggling with poor form in all competitions, having been eliminated from both domestic cups and trailing 1-0 to Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16 in the Champions League.
Their performance in the Premier League has also been difficult, as they are currently in tenth place.
The club’s recent downward trend hit a new low with a 1-0 loss to Southampton, a team fighting against relegation. The defeat meant that Southampton achieved a rare double over Chelsea, with the winning goal coming from a long-range free-kick by James Ward-Prowse.
After the game, when asked about his position as head coach, Potter acknowledged that there may be people who believe that he is the reason for the team’s struggles.
“I don’t think they’re right but I’m not arrogant enough to say their opinion isn’t worth articulating. My job is to help the team, keep working through a team period, we’ve had to make some changes today and the truth is we took a step back in our performance in the first half. The response in the second half was good, but it wasn’t good enough.”
As the pressure on Graham Potter and the board over his future at Chelsea grows, it seems that they are standing by their initial appointment.
However, there have been reports linking the club with potential replacements such as Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho. According to Ferdinand, the reason for the club’s current support of Potter is due to a change in the hiring and firing culture at the club under the new regime, as opposed to the previous approach during the Roman Abramovich era.
He said on VibeWithFive: “I would go as far to say that Graham Potter has one of the hardest jobs in the league because what he has been given – it is weird to say that, because he’s [been given] crazy amounts of talent [but] he’s a new manager, he’s never dealt with players of that stature, and those egos, and having to manage that.
“So every week, just imagine this, he’s going in, yes he’s got great players at his disposal and they’re not a team, he’s got to formulate a team, and disappoint between 11 to 15 players. All players think they should play, that is one of the hardest conversations.
“You speak to any manager, one of the hardest conversations for any manager is to tell a player you’re not playing this week. How do you pick those players back up again? It’s hard. What I’m saying is that it’s one element of how difficult it is: man management of people.”
When asked about the decision to stick by Potter, he added: “I think they’re doing it their way and only time will tell whether they are what they say they’re about. Can they withstand the pressure from outside influences like the media and fans?
“It’s tough in equal ways, just at different ends of the spectrum, he walked into a group that was already formulated before he got there, all new signings. He didn’t walk into a club that was settled. He walked in after a guy had spent £100s of millions on new players coming into that squad. Normally you go into a club and the players are quite settled.
“Then you’ve got a sprinkling of new players. He had nine or ten players that were new to the squad when he arrived, then signs another nine or ten new players. I’m saying don’t look at this as, “oh he’s spending money it’s an easy job There’s a lot of things – even though he’s getting money – that are going against him. It’s hard. [It’s a] hard job. It’s a hard job at the best of times.”
Ferdinand explains Potter sacking decision as Chelsea linked with replacements
