Graham Potter has had an excellent start to life at Chelsea and Rio Ferdinand has praised the work he has done with their young stars.
Chelsea won 2-0 at the San Siro in midweek and currently top Group E with seven points.
Potter has almost instantly impacted the results at Stamford Bridge as he has won four of his first five matches in charge.
Ferdinand has been quick to praise the impact the new manager has had, particularly with how Potter has managed their younger stars.
The former England defender explained (via BT Sport): “The young players, Broja there were loads of clubs courting him, in years gone by he would have been let go.
“The same with Conor Gallagher. Now they are sitting there thinking thank god for this guy.
“There would have been a lot of people going ‘oh my god’ Tuchel has gone, I was one of them.
“But there will be some young players who really benefit from this. Chelsea have a fantastic youth academy as well.”
Under Thomas Tuchel, the likes of Broja and Gallagher had struggled for regular game time.
Broja had an impressive loan spell with Southampton last season where he scored nine goals in all competitions. The 21-year-old took his chance against Wolves and scored Chelsea’s third goal of the game.
Gallagher also impressed while out on loan at Crystal Palace. The 22-year-old managed to earn himself a place in the England squad after an excellent 2021/22 campaign.
In total, he scored eight league goals for Palace and also got three assists.
Chelsea have one of the best youth academies in all of Europe, but it has often felt like the talent they produce has gone to waste.
The was a unified disappointment around Stamford Bridge when they decided to let Billy Gilmour leave the club in the summer.
Had Potter been the manager earlier in the season, it’s probably fair to assume that the 21-year-old would still be a Chelsea player.
Of course, the likes of Mason Mount, Reece James and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all progressed through the system, but they have allowed plenty of players to slip through the net.
Chelsea have climbed into the top four since Potter’s arrival and the signs have mostly been promising.
Earlier in the season, Chelsea had struggled for consistency, particularly when it came to keeping things tight at the back.
Across their last three matches, Potter’s side have kept three clean sheets and scored eight goals in the process.
If Chelsea continue to average the two points per game they have so far,…
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