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It is only January and Potter's Chelsea are already out of the FA Cup, Carabao Cup, and are 10th in the Premier League
Over the weekend, Manchester City demolished Chelsea to the tune of four unreplied goals in the FA Cup and the Blues put up a spineless performance. one that summed up the Graham Potter Chelsea reign.
Pressure starting to pile on Potter
Chelsea have had a weird season. Last Summer, the transfer activity was riddled with uncertainty and something of a scattergun approach by co-owner Todd Boehly.
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Former coach Thomas Tuchel was a major casualty of the takeover as he and Boehly never really saw eye to eye, most especially regarding transfer decisions. Tuchel was gone and in came Potter, who many had tipped to make the big leap due to his successful tenure as Brighton boss.
The recent defeats to Man City have been bad but Pep Guardiola's men are not Chelsea's only problem. They are a team depleted by injuries, lacking structure, and unable to get the ball up the pitch into the final third with any real poise.
In the past eight Premier League rounds, Chelsea have the fewest wins and have scored the fewest goals. Brentford, Brighton and Nottingham Forest are among the teams to have taken points off them during that streak. It is their worst league run since 2010, to go with their first FA Cup third-round exit since 1999.
These are alarming statistics and the reality seems to be getting even gloomier in what is turning into a disastrous season. Potter is now under massive pressure and must be glad the new ownership are operating a different model than the previous owner Roman Abramovich, so far.
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The traveling Chelsea fans, who booed their team off and passionately sang for the return of Thomas Tuchel are certainly running out of patience with this project.
Chelsea facing an injury crisis
Potter explained after the league defeat to Manchester City last Thursday, that there are mitigating circumstances to the results that left Chelsea with just six points from their last eight games. Their injury list underscores his difficulty in selecting a team capable of competing at the highest level.
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The absence of James, with no like-for-like replacement at right wing-back, has been especially damaging, robbing Chelsea of one of their key attackers and limiting their ability to create consistently from wide areas.
The injury list is extensive. Edouard Mendy, Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell, Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Raheem Sterling, Armando Broja, and Christian Pulisic are all currently unavailable.
Same old problems in attack
No one could have foreseen the injury crisis which was to come this season for Chelsea but the attacking problems facing the Blues are not new. Tuchel and Frank Lampard were unable to find the right formula in the final third and Potter seems equally unable to sort it out.
Only Bournemouth have had fewer shots at home in the Premier League. Their average figure of 11.1 shots per game is their lowest output on Opta records. It all points to a lack of attacking intensity and the chance creation stats back that up.
Twelve teams have created more big chances than Chelsea, whose figure of 20 is the same as relegation-threatened Everton. Their top chance creator, Sterling, does not even rank in the Premier League top 30 for key passes.
City may have magnified the problems being faced by Potter but the truth is, time is running out for him to find solutions as the problems continue to stack up.
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