Chelsea’s former English head coach Graham Potter celebrated with defender Ben Chilwell after the UEFA Champions League round‑of‑16 second‑leg match against Borussia Dortmund at Stamford Bridge on 7 March 2023. Chelsea won the game 2‑0 (photo by Adrian Dennis/AFP).
Interim coach Bruno Saltor said the players would be “sad” after the Premier League club sacked Potter while they prepared to face Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Potter was dismissed on Sunday following a 2‑0 home defeat to Aston Villa the previous day. Chelsea, who hired the Englishman to replace Thomas Tuchel in September, have recorded only 10 wins from 28 league games this season and sit 11th in the table, 12 points off the top four. This marks the 13th managerial departure in the English top flight this season, a new record. Julian Nagelsmann, sacked as Bayern Munich boss last month, is the favourite to become Chelsea’s next manager.
Bruno told reporters on Monday that Potter’s dismissal had been “really difficult at every single level, especially emotional.” The Spaniard, who worked under Potter at Brighton before following him to Stamford Bridge, added that the players would be sad “because they know the level of human being that Graham is.” Chelsea’s statement announcing Potter’s exit also said he had “agreed to collaborate with the club to facilitate a smooth transition.” When asked what that meant, Bruno replied, “Probably means that I’m here right now, just trying to keep the process going and we just try to collaborate the best that we can and I think Graham did an amazing job. Football is a really complex business and we have to keep going.”
Bruno, 42, said the upcoming match against fellow strugglers Liverpool on Tuesday would be an opportunity for the Chelsea players to demonstrate their quality. “We’re representing Chelsea, a club with an amazing history and it’s about winning, it’s about dominating,” he said. “What we need to do is prepare for the game and preparation helps a lot in terms of performance and that’s what the players need to focus on.” (AFP)
Comments are closed for this story.