Champions League win buys Chelsea boss Potter some much-needed breathing space

BY PAUL LAGAN
paul@slpmedia.co.uk

They say a week is a long time in politics, in football management it flashes by in an instant.

In the space of just four of those days – starting with the narrow 1-0 win over struggling Leeds United on Saturday to Tuesday’s classic heroic Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund – the beleaguered west Londoners are inexplicably into the quarter-finals.

What crisis?

Head coach Graham Potter, widely tipped to exit through the infamous revolving managerial door at SW6, is now on a sure footing to see out the job until at least the end of the season.

Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz were on target for the Blues as they won 2-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate.

Asked after the win over Dortumund whether all the hassle he had gone through was worth it, the thoughtful 47-year-old said: “Well, I don’t know if ‘worth it’ is the right way to look at it.

“Inevitably, in life, you’re going to have bad times and good times. I don’t see any other way to look at it.

“It’s how you react to the bad times, get some perspective and analyse it in the correct way. Things are never bad forever – but it feels like that sometimes.

“I don’t really think about it as a make-or-break game.

“There are always going to be those types of questions and noise. My job is to help the players, prepare the team as well as we could and to support them.

“They’ve been suffering as well. Nobody has enjoyed the run we’ve had. That’s why today (Tuesday) was important for us. We wanted to progress, and we have, so we’re happy.

“We’ve had a tough period. We had to respond against Leeds. We played a good game against Dortmund away but we lost and in the moment we’re in, nobody wants to hear that you’ve played well, had some chances and should have scored.

“We had a poor first-half against Southampton and then it can quickly spiral into another unpleasant situation. Everybody had to stick together and the players have done that in an incredible way.

“The supporters have been really fair with us. The supporters care, so when the results aren’t what they want, they feel pain. They have to articulate that pain somehow, to get rid of it, and whether that’s at me or whoever it is, we all know in this job that is what happens.

“They’ve been really supportive, they really have. They’ve stuck with the team and helped us on the pitch. Rightly so, when we haven’t performed the way we should, they’ve let their feelings known and that’s fair enough.

“You always need a bit of luck, as much as we think we’re these talented coaches and talented players. Before the World Cup we had nine players out. If you have no Reece James, no N’Golo Kante, no Wesley Fofana, no Ben Chilwell, no Loftus-Cheek, no Sterling – these players are important for us as well.”

It’s back to the grind of the Premier League tomorrow. The 10th-placed Blues head to Leicester City.

Chelsea Women had the perfect antidote to put their miserable 3-1 League Cup final defeat to Arsenal behind them when they won 3-1 at home against Brighton, in the WSL, on Wednesday night.

They will regain top slot in the league if they beat leaders Manchester United on Sunday at Kingsmeadow.