Chelsea have endured a disastrous season so far and Graham Potter now faces the huge task of turning the ship around.
Despite splashing over £500million under new owner Todd Boehly, Chelsea have looked miles off the pace in 2022-23. Thomas Tuchel struggled at the beginning of the year before he was abruptly replaced by Potter.
Chelsea returned from the international break with a positive performance against Bournemouth, but they have struggled since. With just two wins from 10 outings in all competitions this calendar year, the pressure is mounting on Potter.
The Blues have exited both domestic cup competitions, their Champions League future hangs in the balance after a 1-0 defeat away to Borussia Dortmund, and their top-four hopes are clinging by a thread.
“After a 1-0 defeat at home, any criticism you get is understandable,” Potter told Sky Sports following their 1-0 home loss to relegation-battling Southampton.
“We’ve had a tough period and are integrating young players into the Premier League. When results don’t go your way it’s tough.
“I’m not arrogant enough to say that their opinion isn’t worth articulating. My job is to help the team and work through a team period.
“The truth is we took as step back with our performance in the first half. Our response in the second half was good, but it wasn’t enough.”
Here are 12 stats that underline Chelsea’s struggles under Potter.
Stats we can’t believe
– Chelsea have only scored 23 league goals this season. That’s five fewer than 19th-placed Leeds and three fewer than Manchester City striker Erling Haaland. If they continue to score just 1.00 goals per game they will score just 38 goals all season, which is half as many as they managed last season.
– At the same stage last season, Chelsea had 13 more points than they do this time around.
– This season Chelsea have averaged 1.34 points per game. If they were to continue with this average they would finish the season with 50 points which would be their lowest return since 2015-16 – when they finished 10th.
– Chelsea are 12th in the Premier League table if it began when Potter was appointed as Tuchel’s successor in September.
🗣️ “Our level of performance in the first half wasn’t great. I think a combination of a few changes and the week that we’ve had coming back from the Champions League is always complicated.”
Graham Potter on the 1-0 home defeat to bottom club Southampton.
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