Gabby Agbonlahor has been going toe-to-toe with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp for much of the season, but now his attention has turned to Chelsea boss Graham Potter.
Potter took over from Thomas Tuchel in September and went unbeaten through his first nine games. However, that run came to an end on his old stomping ground on Saturday, with two own goals playing a part in the manager's former club Brighton beating the Blues 4-1.
The 47-year-old manager inherited a squad bolstered by more than £200m worth of summer signings, and has been keen to rotate since taking charge. This hasn't gone down well with former Aston Villa striker Agbonlahor, though, with the ex-pro questioning Potter's approach to the defeat at the Amex Stadium,
Agbonlahor was particularly surprised to see Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left out on Saturday. The summer signing has impressed under Potter, but only came on with the visitors 3-1 down.
He also questioned the manager's decision-making on the left side of his defence. Marc Cucurella was a favourite of Potter's at Brighton, and joined Chelsea as one of their marquee summer signings, but has had a tough few weeks while England international Ben Chilwell has struggled for minutes.
"When I watch Cucurella, since he’s been at Chelsea… maybe [there are] two games maximum where he looked OK," Agbonlahor told talkSPORT. "He got dragged off after 36 minutes against Manchester United and was sacrificed for [the change of] formation, today [he was] sacrificed in the 64th minute."
Do you agree with Agbonlahor? Have your say in the comments section
![](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article28372952.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_Brighton-Hove-Albion-v-Chelsea-FC-Premier-League.jpg)
"£60million they paid for him… and you’ve got Ben Chilwell sitting on the bench," Agbonlahor continued. "Why is Aubameyang not starting? Why is Chilwell not starting? These players can play two games in a week.
"There’s only a few weeks before the World Cup so these players can play more often than Potter wants to play them. There’s been too much rotation and Cucurella looks like a bad £60m spent by Chelsea for me."
Chelsea have four games left before the World Cup. They are due to face Arsenal at home and Newcastle away in the league, as well as meetings with Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League and Manchester City in the EFL Cup.
"I have nothing to apologise or say sorry for," Potter said after being booed by sections of the Brighton crowd on Saturday. "I think I did a good job at the club and left it in a good place but people are entitled to their opinions.
"It's part of the process. You have to suffer and feel pain in order to grow and get better. Nobody said we were the finished article. We have to take the pain today and learn from it."