Graham Potter admits he needs to do a better job, as he battles to turn things around at Chelsea.
Sections of the Chelsea support are turning against Potter, and he is under increasing scrutiny after yesterday’s humiliating FA Cup third-round exit at Manchester City.
Chelsea were thrashed 4-0, while supporters sang the name of Potter’s predecessor, Thomas Tuchel, during the match. The embarrassing nature of the defeat sparked anger among fans, who are unhappy following a run of five defeats in seven matches.
Chelsea are now out of both domestic cup competitions and down in 10th place in the Premier League, 10 points outside the top four and in danger of missing out on Champions League qualification.
Chelsea’s new owners, who were at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, have so far kept faith in Potter to turn their fortunes around. But the former Brighton boss accepts he must improve, as pressure builds.
He said: “I have to do better. That is the challenge I have, we need to improve. We have to help the players stick together and encourage them. It is a tough moment for us all, because of the ambition we all have.
“We are in a moment that we have to suffer. It is not nice, it is not enjoyable, but we have to do better and we have to work hard.”
Potter has been hindered by several injuries, and he said Christian Pulisic will be missing “for weeks” with a knee injury. Raheem Sterling was missing on Sunday after suffering a hamstring injury and faces a spell out.
Two derbies this week, against Fulham and Crystal Palace, could be crucial for Potter, who admitted Chelsea were “not good enough” yesterday and “suffering”.
After the heaviest defeat of his four-month reign, Potter said: “You can make excuses and look for reasons or say it isn’t good enough. Both of those answers are correct. We have to keep improving and stick together.”
With Chelsea’s season hanging by a thread, defender Trevoh Chalobah has urged the squad to stick together.
“It’s a tough moment,” said Chalobah. “It’s only ourselves we can look at. We have injuries, but we have to use the players we have and get through. We don’t want to complain.
“We have to work on what went wrong and look forward. We have an important game on Thursday. We have to pick ourselves up and go again.”
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