“They have changed formation”- Bournemouth boss gives verdict on Chelsea’s Graham Potter ahead of PL clash

Bournemouth manager praises Graham Potter ahead of the Chelsea clash

Speaking in the pre-match press conference (h/t Bournemouth Echo), Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil praised his Chelsea counterpart Graham Potter and offered words of encouragement.

Potter was appointed as the Blues manager on September 8, 24 hours after the sacking of Thomas Tuchel. Although the Englishman made a decent start to life at Stamford Bridge, things took a downward turn in the latter half of October and early November before the World Cup.

While Chelsea cruised through their group in the Champions League, they could collect only 11 points in eight games under Potter. Their current form in the league is read as three defeats and two draws in the last five games.

But, O’Neil thinks the Blues will get better the more Potter stays at the club, here’s what the Bournemouth boss said (h/t Bournemouth Echo):

“I think that every week that Graham’s there, I expect them to get better. He’s obviously a good coach. He has a style that has stuck for years, so a new group of players obviously need to adapt to that and learn it.

“So I would think the break has been beneficial to him in sort of getting the players where he needs them to be. It’s difficult. They have changed formation quite a lot.”

Chelsea resume their campaign with a home game against the Cherries on December 27 (Tuesday). They are currently eighth in the league table, way off the top spot and eight points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.

For Potter, even if the results were not good in weeks before the World Cup break, he might have been given the benefit of doubt because he came right in between the season, hence having no pre-season with this group of players.

Combined that with a gruelling schedule Chelsea had in October, the manager would not have got much time to impart his philosophy to the team.

For that reason, this month off and the training camp in Abu Dhabi, although not with the full squad, would have helped Potter and his coaching staff to understand the players better and find better plans to win games of football consistently.

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• Rio Ferdinand heaps praise on Chelsea target and RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol

We hope that the winning starts from Tuesday onwards and we take a jump towards the higher echelons of the table. If not, then the manager would be under huge pressure.