X

Chelsea's Graham Potter Put on Hot Seat by Twitter in UCL Leg 1 Loss to Dortmund

Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRTX.com LogoFeatured Columnist IVFebruary 15, 2023

Chelsea's head coach Graham Potter gestures during the Champions League, round of 16, first leg soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea FC in Dortmund, Germany, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
AP Photo/Martin Meissner

The questions keep piling up for Graham Potter. How much longer will the Chelsea manager be given to find the answers?

Potter's Blues continued a tough season with a disappointing first leg against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday, losing 1-0.

It was Karim Adeyemi's flash of brilliance that was the difference:

CBS Sports Golazo โšฝ๏ธ @CBSSportsGolazo

KARIM ADEYEMI. STOP THAT. ๐Ÿ˜ค<br><br>A devastating Dortmund counter-attack after Chelsea hit the bar! <a href="https://t.co/XEC1tqhmPp">pic.twitter.com/XEC1tqhmPp</a>

The resultโ€”and the subsequent responseโ€”was harsh on Chelsea. The Blues held 53 percent of possession, took 21 shots and put eight on goal. They had 10 corners to five for their opponent and regularly peppered the Dortmund box with threatening moves and chances. The final product just wasn't there.

Potter can't score the goals. But Chelsea's overall struggles this season left him as the scapegoat on Wednesday nonetheless:

Yaw Ampofo Jr @Yaw_Ampofo_

Surely it is over for Graham Potter now.

Jakub Czapran @frsvalo

Dear Graham Potter, please use the Potter's magic and disappear from Chelsea. Really appreciated!

โต @JF5Era

Potter isn't Chelsea standard, doesn't have winning mentality as top managers this process is just a blind process i can't back it

๐Š๐ฒ๐ฅ๐ž ๐†๐ซ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ฆ @kylegrantham

Chelsea with all the talent in the universe and Graham Potter has absolutely no idea what to do with them

KALYJAY @gyaigyimii

Potter is not a serious manager. Look at the changes he is making ๐Ÿ˜‚

Saeed TV @SaeedTV_

Graham Potter you must survive this. We had Ole &amp; Moyes. Chelsea fans must suffer!

Jack Mendel @Mendelpol

They keep talking about Graham Potter's calmness on BT Sport Comms. How about talk about him being *out of his depth* and not having a proper strike despite having hundreds of millions spent (not by him, no doubt..). He is in over his head.. every game is his biggest <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DORCHE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DORCHE</a>

Ebe Casanova @Ebe4Eva

Chelsea do this thing all the time where they try to quietly lose in the corner, like nobody is watching. NAH DAWG BRIGHT LIGHTS ON YOU! STEP FORWARD!

Ibukun Aluko @IbkSports

Graham Potter has over 4.5 years contract with Chelsea.๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜…

Alabi @the_Lawrenz

If you can't be the best, be the worst - Graham Potter, 2023. <a href="https://t.co/He9SezGb8D">pic.twitter.com/He9SezGb8D</a>

It was a pretty tough day for Chelsea across the board:

Chelsea FC @ChelseaFC

Sorry for the delay, admin's just been hit by a pint from above. <a href="https://t.co/466ZrvYbxs">https://t.co/466ZrvYbxs</a>

In some ways, the criticism of Potter was harsh. Chelsea were away in a tough environment against a good club and only lost by a goal in a game where they generally played well. And Potter has been tasked with incorporating the huge waves of new talent the Chelsea board bought in January, with very little time to get a new-look group acclimated to one another.

It's not enough to have talent. Fitting that talent together in a complementary way is crucial, and solving that equation can take time.

But patience is not one of the perks of the job for a Premier League manager, especially at a global brand like Chelsea. Were the Blues having their usual success in the league, a hard-fought loss away at Dortmund might not inspire angst.

But Chelsea sit 10th on the Premier League table, 10 points behind Newcastle in fourth. More than likely, the club's only path to Champions League football will be to win the UCL this season.

At the moment, that seems like the absolute longest of shots, though Chelsea will have the chance to recover in the second leg and keep its UCL season alive.

Potter's future may depend on it.