Chelsea are ‘firmly behind’ Potter as Boehly decides ‘not to judge’ Blues boss on top four

Despite a woeful run of form in the Premier League, the Chelsea board remains ‘firmly behind’ head coach Graham Potter, according to David Ornstein.

Saturday’s draw away to West Ham means the Blues have only won two of their previous 13 matches in the top flight.

Potter replaced Champions League-winning boss Thomas Tuchel in September and got off to a solid start in charge.

Chelsea won their first three Premier League matches under the former Brighton head coach but are now out of both domestic cup competitions and face an uphill battle to finish inside the top four.

The London club are currently ninth, ten points behind fourth-placed Newcastle United and 20 off league leaders Arsenal.

Potter’s side did coast through to the Champions League knockout stage, where they will face Borussia Dortmund.

Comfortable wins home and away to Italian champions AC Milan were extremely promising early on in Potter’s tenure, however, the pressure is now on ahead of Wednesday’s last-16 first leg in Germany.

The Blues hierarchy have strongly backed Potter in the transfer market, spending £300million in January and giving the Englishman many selection headaches as a result.

While Todd Boehly has spent a lot of money and positive results on the pitch have been lacking, it is believed that the Chelsea board is fully backing Potter.

This is according to The Athletic correspondent David Ornstein, who says the former Swansea City boss ‘should be judged in years’, not months.

Boehly and co. are ‘confident they have one of the best managers in the game’ in Potter.

There are ‘no concerns’ and the board are ‘firmly behind’ their head coach.

There is no immediate pressure for Blues to qualify for the Champions League this season and Potter ‘will not be judged’ on this.

The report also states that Potter taking charge of a squad needing ‘such a big overhaul’ mid-season means ‘success was always very unlikely in the short term’.

Furthermore, there is a belief Potter has been ‘unlucky with injuries’. Chelsea have been without Reece James and Ben Chilwell for prolonged periods while N’Golo Kante remains out.

Mikel Arteta’s process at Arsenal is ‘reassuring’ the board. Boehly knows these overhauls do not result in success right away and will give the players time to ‘understand’ Potter’s ‘tactics and methods’.

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