Chelsea sacked Graham Potter on Sunday night in the wake of a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Aston Villa, less than seven months after he took charge of the west London club.
Graham Potter, 47, struggled to earn the respect of his players, win over the fans and work under the new Chelsea ownership. Results on the pitch were far from great—just 12 wins in 31 games—but the off-field decisions seem to be where the real harm was done.
The defeat to Aston Villa has left Chelsea 11th in the Premier League table ahead of their home game against Liverpool on Tuesday evening. Bruno Saltor, Potter’s assistant, has been named as the interim head coach, as the Blues search for the Englishman’s replacement.
Without further ado, let us take a look at the three managerial options who could replace Potter at Chelsea.
#Julian Nagelsmann
Julian Nagelsmann has recently become available after being sacked by Bayern Munich. The German, 35, is rated very highly across the continent and has earned solid experience managing in the Bundesliga at a relatively early age.
Nagelsmann is tactically astute, plays an exciting brand of football and promotes youth, which should bode well with the signings Chelsea have made recently under the new ownership. And it doesn’t come as a surprise that Chelsea have reportedly held talks with Nagelsmann to become their new permanent manager. Nagelsmann is also one of the main candidates to replace Antonio Conte at Tottenham.
#Mauricio Pochettino
Mauricio Pochettino is emerging as a strong candidate for the Chelsea job. The Argentine, 51, managed Tottenham for five years and perennially achieved Champions League football before his sacking in 2019. He took the Paris Saint-Germain job in 2021 but was sacked last summer for underachieving with a strong squad.
Pochettino is out of work since leaving PSG. He appears to be the right fit for the Chelsea job, and it would allow the 51-year-old to work with young talents and implement his philosophy on an exciting team.
#Luis Enrique
Luis Enrique, who is currently out of work, is a manager rated very highly in Europe. The Spaniard, 52, was sacked by Spain after they were dumped out of the last year’s World Cup by Morocco at the last-16 stage.
Enrique is an experienced manager with a solid CV, having already managed AS Roma, Barcelona and the Spanish national team. He wants his teams to play a possession-based, attacking and pressing brand of football, whilst his winning mentality could rub off on the Chelsea squad.
Having already two managers this season, Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly will need to get his next appointment for the role spot on to help kick on as a club. And if Boehly can convince someone like Enrique to take the vacant job, the Blues could still salvage something from what has been a rough season for the fans.
I am Rohan Sengupta from one of the busiest cities in India, Mumbai. A Journalism graduate with a keen interest in sports, football is something I simply cannot live without and writing, discussing and analyzing the game is what I do 24*7.
