Chelsea manager Graham Potter held his press conference today ahead of Chelsea’s vital UCL matchup against AC Milan, ChelseaFC365 brings you some of the best talking points.
Rafael Leao Impression :
Graham Potter was asked about Chelsea target and young star Rafael Leao, here’s what he had to say ahead of facing him in tomorrow’s match :
“I’ve been really impressed with him whenever I’ve watched the [AC Milan] games. He contributes to how they attack and score”
Whilst not giving too much away in terms of a future move perhaps to Chelsea, it’s important to know the managers thoughts on said player, and it’s clear that Potter would be behind the move.
Potter not drawn into answers on Christopher Nkunku and Cristiano Ronaldo :
The Telegraph reported last night that Ronaldo will be able to leave Manchester United in January and Chelsea owner and chairman Todd Boehly wanted to sign him in the summer only for Thomas Tuchel to refuse the move, so could Chelsea go back in for him in January even after signing Aubameyang? Potter wasn’t giving anything away on that front, neither Nkunku…
Potter on the Christopher Nkunku to Chelsea imminent deal: “I’m not going to speak about players that are not in our team”
Potter on Cristiano Ronaldo : “We can spend all day with these questions. Whilst they aren’t our players, I don’t speak about them”
N’Golo Kante will have to be built back up minutes wise following his injury :
N’Golo Kante has been out several weeks with an injury sustained against Spurs at home. ChelseaFC365 exclusively reported an update in the last 2 weeks that he was feeling fine again and has since started to re-join fitness work, and finally back in first team training.
Potter said : “It’s a case of building him up. We have to be careful how we build his minutes up. We have to be patience. We are under control with that, I think”
“It’s hard to replace someone like NG, he’s world class. Any team who loses him will suffer. It’s up to the other players to step up and find solutions. The options we have got, not direct replacements, we have to find the right one.”
Koulibaly not to be written off :
Kalidou Koulibaly has endured a rocky start to his Chelsea career, apart from a goal against Spurs, he has shown some uncharacteristic moments in defence, including a silly second booking against Leeds which saw him red carded. However, Graham Potter is still impressed with the defender despite him not starting any of the two opening games under the new head coach.
“I’ve been impressed with him. He understands his situation that he has to wait to play. His response has been fantastic, hard-working, trained very well. It’s not the perfect situation, but with his character he will play an important role.”
No rush to decide the number 1 GK :
Much has been made of the two Chelsea goalkeepers seemingly fighting for the number 1 spot under Graham Potter. On one hand, you have Edouard Mendy who has shown consistent world class performances in the first half of 2021 and even in 2020 under Frank Lampard but during the second half of last season severely tailed off and Kepa has become a talking point again with fans begging for him to be given a run of games, many feel that he is the better modern day GK (in which being an emphasis on using his feet to distribute the ball and play out the back) and it was interesting that Graham Potter doesn’t have an absolute definitive answer for the spot yet, unlike Tuchel who backed Mendy 100%.
“If you look at what we have over the next six weeks, it’s an incredible schedule. I’m in no rush to label anyone no.1 or no.2. I want to help Kepa to enjoy football, and help Eddie get fit and ready to play, In an ideal world, you let the football decide”
Position is fully up for grabs, by sounds of it.
Potter backs ambitious Chelsea owners :
Graham Potter spoke briefly on Chelsea’s new ownership spearheaded by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital founders Behdad Egbhali and Jose E.Feliciano.
“The guys [owners] are ambitious. They want to develop the club and team. My job as head coach is to develop the players here, then work with the club to align decisions with the club when the transfer window opens”
You can expect Potter to work closely with Todd Boehly, the new Director of Football and also his own recruitment Guru Kyle Macauley on upcoming transfer Windows, it will be very interesting to see how it all joins together.
Lastly, Jorginho and Kai Havertz are struggling with minor injuries and are expected to undergo late fitness tests ahead of tomorrow night.
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