“Be honest”- Chelsea star calls for collective accountability following Graham Potter sacking

Mateo Kovacic insists that the Chelsea squad must take responsibility for Graham Potter sacking

Speaking to Sky Sports (h/t Daily Mail), Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic has insisted that the squad needs to take some responsibility for the recent sacking of Graham Potter.

Potter was sacked on Sunday following the Blues’ defeat to Aston Villa last Saturday. Bruno Saltor took charge of the Liverpool game on Tuesday, while Frank Lampard has been appointed on an interim basis till the end of this season.

Among the candidates to take over the role on a permanent basis, Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique have been approached. A few days ago, Sky Sports reported that Chelsea co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are impressed by the former, but concerned by his age (35).

Accepting that the squad needs to take more responsibility for the change in management, here’s what Kovacic said (h/t Daily Mail):

“We need to be honest with ourselves. In the end it’s easier to sack a coach than 30 players, but it’s on us as well.

“We have to say thank you to Potter who was here who did a good job but it’s not easy when there are many changes here so it was a tough situation for him as well.”

It is difficult to blame the squad when there are a lot of them in it. After crazy spending in the last two windows, Potter had to deal with a swelled number of players. That is probably one of the main reasons why Benoit Badiashile was not picked in the Champions League squad for the knockout stages.

Despite all that, it is good to hear Kovacic urging the players to take some responsibility. As we all know, if a football team doesn’t function well, the knife goes out to the manager rather than the playing staff. Probably because it is easier to get rid of the former.

With Lampard in charge for the remainder of this season, the players need to focus on ending this season well. Then when a permanent appointment is made in the summer, we would be interested to know who all stay and who all are allowed to leave.

More Chelsea News:

• Kai Havertz insists he is happy at Chelsea and rules out a move to Bayern Munich
• Jamie Redknapp say Frank Lampard has unfinished business at Chelsea
• Liverpool are ready to offer Mason Mount the wages he is seeking at Chelsea

These are turbulent times at Chelsea. Let’s hope the decision-making by the key people is done well in the next few weeks.