Graham Potter believes he has the toughest job in soccer as Chelsea labour to become familiar with their “new chapter” since Todd Boehly purchased the membership.
The crew have struggled within the wake of being bought by Roman Abramovich, who introduced unprecedented success throughout his almost 20 years in management, with an enormous switch outlay sanctioned by Boehly over the past six months but to repay.
Chelsea are tenth within the Premier League regardless of having spent almost £350million for the reason that American took management, with supporters singing the identify of Abramovich and former head coach Thomas Tuchel throughout Sunday’s 4-0 defeat at Manchester City within the FA Cup third spherical.
“I think this club was run in a certain way for 20 years, and really well,” Potter mentioned. “I have the utmost respect for the previous ownership and what they achieved and what they did. It’s fantastic.
“But, unfortunately, they’re not here anymore. You’ve lost all that leadership. It’s a new ownership, everything’s changed pretty quickly. If you look what’s happened in the last six to 12 months, it’s an incredible amount that’s happened. Sometimes that can manifest itself in different ways.
“It would be disrespectful to say ‘well, that’s gone and we’ll just pick it up’. We’ve got new staff, new structures, new people. Lots of things went and you have to try to build it up again. But, in the meantime, you’ve still got Chelsea, you’ve still got the demands and the expectations.
“The reality of where the club is in terms of establishing itself as a well-run football club, functioning well in a really competitive environment, maybe we’re not quite there yet. In my head, that’s quite easy for me to understand and get. But I know there’s a lot of people that don’t see it that way.”
Chelsea confirmed their thirteenth first-team signing of Boehly’s possession on Wednesday with Portugal worldwide Joao Felix signing on mortgage from Atletico Madrid, with Potter hopeful the ahead will obtain clearance in time to face Fulham on Thursday evening.
Joao Felix has joined Chelsea on mortgage
(PA Wire)
The 23-year-old, who was topped European soccer’s ‘Golden Boy’ in 2019 earlier than signing for Atletico from Benfica for £113m, might be required to make an instantaneous impression if Chelsea are to rekindle their faint hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
The crew are within the grip of an damage disaster, with 9 gamers nonetheless unavailable for the journey to Fulham and final summer time’s switch consumption nonetheless largely struggling to make an impression.
“Change is challenging in any organisation,” Potter mentioned. “It’s not like there’s some sort of coup gone on. This is what it is. We have to deal with the ‘new’ now. We have to build things up again because things have changed, things have gone and things have left.
“I think this is probably the hardest job in football. Because of the leadership change and because of the expectations and, rightly, where people see Chelsea. But I didn’t think we’d lose 10 first-team players. That’s just where we’re at.
“The previous ownership, it’s fantastic what they achieved. But this is a new era, a new chapter. Yeah, we’re going through some pain, it’s difficult at the moment. I understand the frustration and I appreciate the support.”
