“They identified Mikel and supported him through difficult times” – Graham Potter is inspired by Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal project and wants to do the same with Chelsea
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Graham Potter says his faith has not been shaken a week after his toughest day as Chelsea manager. For the coach who recently moved from Sussex to Stamford Bridge, a 4-1 loss at Brighton was as devastating as it sounds. But it takes more than the occasional kick to the shins to carve up a career path like Potter’s — from university coaching to Sweden, then on to Brighton via Swansea in the Championship, neither by altering your approach each time something fails.
“When you are trying to do something new, there will be a chance it goes wrong,” said Potter. “That sounds a bit strange because you should come across as this all-knowing person, but the reality of making progress and the reality of doing something different and new is that you have to be prepared to look an idiot.”
Like the majority of coaches, Potter does not agree with the analysis of systems and lineups that seems to go on forever. In addition, he acknowledges that he sees something in Arsenal, Sunday’s opponents, that he might one day wish he had in terms of selection consistency. Eight players for the Arsenal have started each of their 12 Premier League games thus far. None for Chelsea.
Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has only utilised two systems in domestic and European games while Potter has already experimented with five or six. “Yes, stability is far better than constant change in terms of progression and moving forward,” he said.
“So that’s our challenge. I wouldn’t say I have been experimenting. I do have an idea of how I want us to play football. It depends on where the players are at and what we have available. But it’s not rocket science. Players get better if they play. So you have to put your belief and trust in players who can perform every week. They do get better with game time.”
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Chelsea manager Graham Potter acknowledges Arsenal’s approach of sticking to Mikel Arteta
Only once in the past ten seasons has Arsenal finished ahead of Chelsea, but they are currently in first place because to their belief in Arteta when other teams might not have. “Arsenal are top on merit,” Potter said. “They have had three years of working with Mikel, building and building. We are at the start of quite an exciting project with lots of things that have happened behind the scenes, lots of change and lots of instability.“
“What I like is that they identified Mikel and supported him through difficult times. There have been times when he has been under pressure, certainly from the outside. Take the rivalry of Arsenal and Chelsea away and that is quite a good thing from a coach’s perspective to see a club support and back him and come through. They are getting the rewards now. It is a combination of good work from him and the staff and good recruitment and support. It sounds straightforward but it isn’t.”
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Sujeeth Shetty
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