Potter's painful journey
There isn't a cure-all solution to the myriad of problems affecting Chelsea at this moment in time. Patience is required. Understanding is needed. And an acceptance that difficult days will have to be endured by supporters is essential.
This is no longer the Chelsea of Roman Abramovich. But it's not quite the Chelsea of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital either. Ideas continue to be formed; processes continue to be implemented; new hires continue to be made, both from a football and business perspective.
In the middle of it all is Graham Potter. It is he who the buck stops with on a matchday. He who faces the questions and criticism from the media. He who is the subject of debate and post-match discussion in bars and pubs across Chelsea and across the world via social media.
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It was certainly never going to be like Brighton – how could it be given the expectation of the fanbase and profile of Chelsea? But Potter knew the challenges he would face at Stamford Bridge and has never attempted to hide the fact Chelsea are a work in progress, both on and off the pitch.
The hope and demand from many supporters is Chelsea improve as the campaign progresses. That after the World Cup and with injured players back to full fitness, there will be an upturn in form. Potter is aware of this but also acknowledges coaches of other elite clubs – and those with far more impressive CVs – have too struggled in season one of their football vision.
"If you look at Pep [Guardiol's] first year at Man City, if you look at how long it took Jurgen [Klopp] at Liverpool, these guys are top, top people but even they don’t just walk in, click their fingers, and everything’s perfect," Potter reiterated on Friday.
"You guys [the media], it’s your job to create the pressure. It’s your job to create the noise, to create the story, and sometimes we don’t do well enough so it’s justified. People think that it’s just going to happen for you, it’s incredible. At what level does that happen? It’s quite a dangerous message to tell people but it is what it is.
"Alex Ferguson took his time I think if I remember rightly, and he did quite well! Pep’s a genius but he didn’t just walk in and everything was fine. Jurgen took some time. So the evidence is there. If people want to use another narrative then that’s fine, I can’t control that.
"The team that I left at Brighton wasn’t the team I started with at Brighton. It grew. It developed. Sometimes you fall on your face and you have to pick yourself up and take the criticism because everybody is wise after the event, all these people who are experts afterward.
"It’s a process, a period of pain and suffering, but clearly you need results along the way because they help you convince people you’re on the right path. As I’ve said before, as a coach you have to understand the short-term, medium-term and long-term.
"If you just focus on the medium and long and ignore the short-term, then you’re in trouble. You want to try and build something, but you also need to acknowledge the fact that supporters need to see performances, need to see results, need to see wins."
Chelsea fans will argue – with merit – they've not seen enough wins in recent weeks, especially in the Premier League. It's why there were a smattering of boos after the full-time whistle of yesterday's defeat to Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. And concerningly, things may get worse before they get better with trips to Man City and Newcastle United to come.
Absence of derby desire
After yesterday's result, Chelsea haven't beaten Arsenal at home in the Premier League since 2018. That is a stat that would have been unthinkable a decade ago when the Blues would routinely batter and bruise the Gunners on their own patch – and frequently at the Emirates.
What frustrated supporters at Stamford Bridge yesterday lunchtime, aside from the limited chances created, was the lack of fight shown by many within the Chelsea side. There was no bite in midfield and no forward willing to scrap against the Arsenal backline, although Armando Broja did his best after being introduced in the second period.
Cesar Azpilicueta – the one man in the squad to have played alongside battle-hardened club legends such as John Terry, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard – did show some grit in the second period. It was he who argued hardest with the Arsenal players, he who was riled by Mikel Arteta's constant provocations on the touchline and snapped back at the Gunners' head coach.
But Azpilicueta is 33 years old and no longer a first-team regular. It can't be up to him to bring the edge to a game. Others within the Chelsea side have to step up in the months ahead.
Aubameyang's disappointing reunion
Inevitably, much of the pre-match focus was on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang going up against Arsenal for the first time since leaving the Gunners in January.
Aubameyang spent four years with Arsenal but left in February after a complete breakdown in his relationship with Mikel Arteta. During his final weeks at the Emirates Stadium, the 33-year-old was stripped of the club captaincy and forced to train away from his teammates due to what Arteta cited as a disciplinary breach ahead of a match against Southampton.
It was later revealed in All or Nothing: Arsenal – the fly-on-the-wall documentary released by Amazon – that Arteta had kept a dossier of Aubameyang's perceived misdemeanours. It came as no surprise that he and the club parted ways in January and the former Gabon international joined Barcelona on a free transfer.
He worked his way back to English football in the summer, however, and arrived at Chelsea on transfer deadline day. There was an early flurry of goals but Aubameyang's form has dipped in recent matches. Still, the hope was that with a point to prove against Arsenal, the Blues' No.9 would rise to the occasion.
That didn't happen. Aubameyang, used on the left of a front three, was a peripheral figure throughout. His only first-half involvement was to go into the referee's notebook for fouling Ben White and he lasted only 19 minutes in the second half before being replaced by Broja, much to the delight of the Arsenal supporters.
Rather damningly, Aubameyang only touched the ball eight times before coming off the pitch. It is a stat that invokes memories of Romelu Lukaku's seven-touch performance against Crystal Palace last season and one that can't be repeated against Newcastle United next weekend if Chelsea are to go into the World Cup break off the back of a positive result.
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