Pep Guardiola has urged Chelsea to stick with under-fire boss Graham Potter - and claimed he did not need time when managing Barcelona due to the presence of Lionel Messi.
Blues fans chanted the name of Potter’s predecessor Thomas Tuchel and the club’s former owner Roman Abramovich during their FA Cup loss at Manchester City on Sunday, in a clear message of their current discontent with their current boss and the situation overseen by owner Todd Boehly.
Potter's side have now been dumped out of both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by Pep Guardiola's side, falling to a humbling four-goal defeat in Sunday’s Third Round clash in the latter.
Riyad Mahrez fired City in front with a delightful free-kick before World Cup winner Julian Alvarez doubled their advantage from the penalty spot before Phil Foden added a third before the break, with Mahrez netting from another spot-kick late on to complete the rout.
Alongside their domestic cup exits, Chelsea ’s league form has also plummeted this campaign with Potter’s side languishing in 10th in the Premier League and a whopping 19 points away from league leaders Arsenal. They are also 10 points adrift of a top four spot, with Champions League football next season appearing to be a diminishing prospect.
Sunday’s humbling defeat at the Etihad Stadium marked their seventh defeat in ten matches across all competitions, a run which also included an underwhelming draw at struggling Nottingham Forest in the league.
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Ahead of the match, Potter had referenced Guardiola’s start at City – where he did not win a trophy in his first season in charge. The Blues boss said: “Pep was at Manchester City a year before they won anything and Mikel Arteta and Jurgen Klopp took a bit of time. Maybe it’s different for me, for some reason.”
Potter, who has yet to win a major trophy as manager during his impressive career, looks unlikely to break that streak this season and Sunday’s defeat is likely to add further scrutiny on his position at Stamford Bridge.
However, City boss Guardiola spoke of support of his counterpart after the match and claimed how his breakthrough in management at the Camp Nou was an incomparable situation to Potter’s at Chelsea: "I didn't need time in Barca because I had Messi there."
Guardiola won a myriad of trophies at Barcelona before replicating that success at Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Potter’s job at Chelsea came after impressive work at Swedish club Ostersunds, prior to appointments at Swansea and Brighton respectively.
