Graham Potter has refused to demand a 'striker like Didier Drogba or Diego Costa' from the board following Chelsea's defeat to Aston Villa. The Blues boss faces an increasingly uncertain future at Stamford Bridge, with the west London outfit now in the bottom-half of the Premier League.
Ollie Watkins put the visitors ahead inside the opening 20 minutes after latching on to a misplaced header from Marc Cucurella. He capitalised on the Spaniard's mistake before looping the ball over Kepa Arrizabalaga, who was rooted to the spot.
Then, shortly into the second-half, John McGinn doubled Villa's lead by beating the Chelsea shot-stopper with a great strike from range. Despite the west London outift's defensive frailties, the home side had their fair shares of chances; Mykhailo Mudryk fluffed his lines on a couple of occasions and Ben Chilwell also had a goal ruled out for an adjudged foul on Ashley Young.
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But, Chelsea failed to capitalise on their opportunities, begging the question as to whether the club needs a conventional striker to lead the line. The Blues have experimented with the likes of Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in recent times, but none have enjoyed nearly as much success as expected.
Ultimately, the west Londoners have suffered in the absence of Drogba, with only Costa or Olivier Giroud coming close to fulfilling target man role. Speaking to the press after Chelsea's loss to Villa, Potter was asked what he would do to be able to have a striker like the Ivorian or the Spaniard.
"There's nothing for me to say," the 47-year-old said. "I've got the players I have. They gave everything today, as much as we're all disappointed with the result they did. The intent of the team was there, the attack was there but the scoreline is painful for us so there's not too much I can say that seems positive."
Potter was also quizzed on his general thoughts of the game. He added: "If you look at the stats of the game, apart from the most important stat [the scoreline], there's a lot there that says we did a lot well but ultimately the two boxes are the most important area and that's where we've come up short.
"First half I thought we had a couple of opportunities, we won it back high and created a 1v1 situation pretty early in the game. Obviously the goal is a blow for us. We need to do better than that. Of course, it's difficult then, you're 1-0 down at home.
"I thought the team gave everything, I thought the intention of the team was there. You could tell by the amount of times we got in their box, the shots we had, there was a positive intent but the scoreline is painful for us."
Next up for Chelsea is the visit of Liverpool to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night before they play Wolves at Molineux on Saturday.
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