Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola insists Chelsea remain a "top, top side" under Graham Potter and has backed the Blues' head coach to achieve success at Stamford Bridge.
Potter took charge of Chelsea in September after Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali made the unpopular and somewhat seismic decision to dismiss Thomas Tuchel, who guided the club to the 2021 Champions League. It was not a call made in haste nor one solely made on the tactical acumen of the German, who was beyond doubt.
It came after the relationship between Tuchel and the new ownership group broke down over the summer transfer window. It was felt Potter was a better fit for the more communicative and collaborative approach that is being implemented across the club by Boehly and his business partners.
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Potter has endured a rocky start at Stamford Bridge. Injuries to key players – such as Reece James, Wesley Fofana and N'Golo Kante – certainly haven't aided the 47-year-old. Nor has the intense fixture list ahead of the World Cup; there has been very little time to work on the training pitches at Cobham as a result.
Recent results have been disappointing. Chelsea have won just two of their previous seven matches in all competitions and last night's 2-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium to Man City saw the Blues exit the Carabao Cup at the third-round stage.
Yet Guardiola believes Potter will get things right at Stamford Bridge in time – and highlighted that through the lens of what he continues to build at City seven years after taking charge in Manchester.
"I've said from day one, it doesn’t matter the game we play, friendly, Carabao Cup, Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, we always play to win the game," he said. "This is the standard we are going to set in this club: consistency in every competition and we have to do our job.
"We can lose of course, but we play to win the game and by being who we are. We have problems, of course, because the opponent is really good. All the internationals, European champion, a thousand-million game on their shoulders and with know-how of how to compete.
"And in the last 30 minutes [of last night's game] come Raheem (Sterling), (Cesar) Azpilicueta, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Gallagher…whoa! We suffer, we were tried and they increased the rhythm.
"I smell and see what Graham Potter has done at Brighton and with the way they play, sooner or later it’s going to happen here at Chelsea and they will be a tough, tough opponent. It’s why I give us a lot of credit. We didn't win against a nobody, we won against a top, top team."
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