Chelsea manager Graham Potter admitted giving Kai Havertz a chance to score was one of the reasons he delayed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang‘s second-half introduction against Brentford.
The Blues looked far more threatening and more lively when Aubameyang was on the pitch in the last 10 minutes of the game on Wednesday.
So, it was easy to see why some fans were frustrated that the Gabonese striker did not enter the pitch earlier.
In addition to that, Havertz, who stayed on the pitch for over 80 minutes before being replaced by Aubameyang, had a poor game.
To put it into perspective, Havertz had just one shot on target in the game and failed to create any chance or any of his three dribble attempts.
Aubameyang, on the other hand, managed one shot on target and created one chance.
Potter defended his decision as he explained the late substitution.
“I know the reasons why, it’s because of his [workload]” the Chelsea manager said in his post-match interview when asked about Aubameyang’s late cameo (via HaytersTV).
“He [Aubameyang] has played a lot, and it [gave] Kai a chance to score and play — and we’re close with that.
“But, yeah, I understand the question.”
Obviously, there is nothing wrong with a manager’s wanting to give a player a chance to prove himself, but at that point, it was pretty clear that it did not work.
Brentford defenders had a hard time dealing with Armando Broja’s pace, so Aubameyang would have clearly posed similar threats.
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