Chelsea’s manager Graham Potter and his boys suffered their third consecutive Premier League defeat and dashing the hope of sealing a top-four finish after bowing to Newcastle United in a 1-0 defeat.
After two straight Premier League defeats from Brentford and Arsenal, Chelsea’s new coach Graham Potter failed to avoid another loss after exhibiting a woeful performance against Newcastle United on Saturday, November 12.
Eddie Howe‘s Newcastle team pressed Graham Potter’s side hard in the first half of the match seeing Potter’s woeful lineup and his disdained squad completely out of potential.
Newcastle should have taken the lead earlier in the second half when Almiron’s cross was nodded back by Joelinton, and seeing Sean Longstaff ruined two great chances having his strikes parried by Mendy.
The Magpies finally had a breakthrough in the 67th minute of the game when Willock brilliantly curled in from 18 yards following a stunning assist by Miguel Almiron, who has scored seven goals in seven matches.
Following Saturday’s defeat, the Blues have dropped down to eighth place on the Premier League table with 21 points while Newcastle United remains in third place below Arsenal and Manchester City with 30 points.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe recounted how delighted he and his side feel to remain third in the league table with the hope of steering the Magpies to European competition next season.
Having dropped to fourth place in the league table following Tottenham’s 4-3 victory against Leeds United earlier in the day, the Magpie’s victory over Potter’s Blues has moved Newcastle back to third place which means Newcastle will be in a Champions League place at Christmas for the first time since 2001.
After a fifth successive Premier League victory, the Magpies boss said he would be “foolish not to be excited” by the second half of the season following a victorious fight over out-of-form Chelsea’s team.
While Newcastle and their fans wallowed in sound honor of a straight 10-match unbeaten run as they headed home, the Blues supporters are enraged, wondering what has become of their side after four consecutive defeats in all competitions, for the first time since 2002.
Saturday’s defeat against Newcastle United marked the first time in 20 years that Chelsea has suffered four straight defeats, excluding penalty shootout losses, and this is not a pleasant record for the new Chelsea manager, Graham Potter.
Graham Potter was handed an enormous task following Thomas Tuchel’s sack, to stabilize a team which was a second England best throughout after Manchester City but that is yet to be seen.
Potter’s unpredictable, awkward and disjointed team selection needs to be redressed with many Chelsea supporters nagging, including Peter Drury’s criticism, describing Potter’s football intelligence as depressing.
Starting youth players without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Raheem Sterling, Ziyech, Pulisic, Kai Havertz, Thiago Silva and other experienced players will do the team more harm.
It’s crystal clear how Saturday’s game against Newcastle improved in the second half after the introduction of Christian Pulisic.
Undoubtedly, with this current form, Chelsea is likely to fall below their present 8th place to a poorer position in the league table.
Moreover, it’s even uncertain whether Graham Potter would lead the Blues out of the Champions League knockout rounds as they will play a tough rival, Dortmund when the tournament resumes in February next year.
However, Potter’s difficult management and his potential failures at Stamford Bridge would be averted if he understands the selection of his team and the right positions to play each player.
Even though one of Chelsea’s defenders Kalidou Koulibaly believes the players, and not the coach should be blamed when he said players are the ”culprits” for Chelsea’s poor form, when the worse comes to worst, the coach will be sacked while the team will remain.
Frank Lampard lost his job for failing to manage the same team Thomas Tuchel won the Champions League with during Tuchel’s era, which means that the success or failure of a team mostly lies on the coach.
With the season coming to a break due to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Chelsea fans will hope to see a revived team as the Blues will be seen in action against Manchester City in a crucial Premier League clash on January 6, 2023.
