- Players and owners growing concerned
- Faces defining two-game period
- Conflicting reports say he's safe
WHAT HAPPENED? Chelsea's season went from bad to worse over the weekend with a 2-0 defeat away to Tottenham extending a winless run to six games, and ensuring they have now only won two games in their last 15. And while the focus has been on giving Potter time to oversee a rebuilding process, The Telegraph report that he now faces a make or break period over the next two games, with owners and senior players now growing concerned with the rut they are stuck in. However, a conflicting report from The Athletic instead claims that Chelsea are not planning to sack Potter and will continue to give him time turn to turn things around.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: The report from the Telegraph states that as well as senior players and owners being worried about whether or not Potter can turn things around, new signings have been shocked by just how much pressure they are under, while those who have been omitted from matchday squads are becoming irked.
Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to watch the weekend's loss, and will be joined in attendance by his fellow controlling co-owner Behdad Eghbali for the next two games against Leeds United and Borussia Dortmund, which are both at home. It is believed that failure to win any of their next two matches would create a situation where the club and players feel there is no way back.
AND WHAT'S MORE: While there is plenty of sympathy and understanding for Potter's situation for having to manage such a bloated squad, his 'enforced decisions are provoking frustration and some anger'.
Parallels have been drawn between Potter's situation and that of Mikel Arteta's upon first taking the job at Arsenal and Mauricio Pochettino's when he first joined Tottenham, having inherited such fractured squads, but failure to beat Leeds and being knocked out of the Champions League by Borussia Dortmund would put the final nail in the coffin of potentially qualifying for next season's competition.
Next Match
IN THREE PHOTOS:
Getty Images
Getty Images
GettyWHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA? Quite simply, Chelsea must find a way to start winning quickly if Potter is to save his job. They now find themselves stuck in 10th in the Premier League, some 14 points behind fourth-placed Tottenham.