Graham Potter has insinuated that Chelsea’s poor form can be traced to the team’s pre-season under former manager, Thomas Tuchel.
Potter who has overseen one of the worst periods in Chelsea’s recent history is backed by the board to remain manager for the rest of the season.
“Speaking to a few of the experienced guys, they said it was the worst pre-season they’ve had,” Potter said at the press conference before Sunday’s clash against Tottenham.
“Organisationally, the tour didn’t work as well as they’d like. I wasn’t there so I can’t say.
“We thought we made progress, but the first half against Southampton was below par. The sky can fall. These are some of the facts. Inconvenient facts, but that’s the situation.”
Chelsea have struggled to score goals in recent weeks, finding the net just once in their last five games in all competitions.
Despite their record January transfer window spending of around 300 million pounds ($361.08 million), Chelsea have won one of their last 10 matches in all competitions.
“The quality is there. When you integrate young players, it’s not always easy for things to click,” Graham Potter said.
“The most difficult part of the game is the attacking part. To get that fluidity, certainty in our attacking play, it’s a process.
“We’ve spoken about it with individuals and as a group as to how to attack against Tottenham. We need to focus on the next game. They are a team that don’t give much away, defend deep, we’ll have to think about that.”
Graham Potter said he will be able to call upon most of his squad for the game against Spurs, except for N’Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic, who “are joining the warm-ups and will be more integrated next week”.
