Graham Potter will take charge of Chelsea for the first time in Wednesday’s Champions League Group E clash against FC Salzburg at Stamford Bridge, but having taken his first training session and delivered his mission statement to his new squad, the brutal reality of elite football is that most of Potter’s players will have already formed an opinion of their new boss before playing a game under him.
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The 47-year-old, hired as manager last week following Thomas Tuchel’s dismissal by new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly, is just as likely to have made a positive impression in the dressing room than a negative one. After all, in his previous jobs at Brighton, Swansea and Swedish club Ostersunds FK, Potter forged a reputation as one of the brightest coaches in the game — a tactical thinker who builds teams that play exciting, attacking football and perform beyond expectations.
But while his appointment as Chelsea manager is undoubtedly a boost for the reputation of English coaches — don’t forget, no English manager has won the Premier League, while Liverpool‘s Joe Fagan was the last English boss to win the European Cup/Champions League in 1984 — there are also a number of visible red flags Potter must address if he is to make a success of the job, and it would be naive to suggest that the firm backing of Boehly gives him protection for any storms ahead. Just ask David Moyes how much protection his six-year contract at Manchester United offered when results went against him and he was sacked inside a year.
The first red flag is raised the moment any new manager walks through the door and meets his players for the first time. The messaging is crucial, and Potter walked into a dressing room stacked with players who have won World Cup, Champions League and Premier League trophies; without being able to match that success himself as either a player or coach, he is already dealing with a sceptical audience.
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What he achieved at Brighton — 42 wins from 135 games and keeping them in the Premier League for four seasons, with the club’s highest-ever finish of 9th last campaign — will count for little at Chelsea because he is dealing with players who have far greater expectations those he worked with at the Amex Stadium.
This might seem harsh, but Moyes had the same problem when he succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson at Man United, and he instantly raised doubts among his new players by telling them he would make the team better by making the squad fitter. Elite players always want to improve and win; Potter’s messaging has to be able to convince the dressing room that he can take the team and players to a new level.
The same applies to his coaches. Moyes stayed loyal to his Everton staff at United, working with coaches who had never trained a world-class squad, and they were unable to inspire or motivate the players at Old Trafford. Potter has taken five members of his Brighton backroom staff to Chelsea including assistant Billy Reid, the former Hamilton Academical manager, which is a bold move considering the depth of big-club experience and talent in his squad at Chelsea.
