‘Don’t buy into that’: Craig Burley doesn’t agree with what he thinks some Chelsea fans have said about Potter

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Craig Burley contested those Chelsea supporters he believed to be in opposition to Graham Potter as manager.

Speaking on ESPN, Burley offered his backing to the new Blues boss, who has his doubters amongst certain sections of the Stamford Bridge crowd.

Despite losing just one of his first 11 games at the helm, Potter is still attempting to turn his cynics around.

Last weekend’s 4-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion caused an avalanche of criticism to fall down upon the 47-year-old’s shoulders.

Failure to defeat Arsenal tomorrow and even more questions will be asked about the coach’s qualifications for being in charge of the Club World Cup champions.

Tuchel or Potter?

Potter has faced an uphill battle ever since he took over from Thomas Tuchel in September.

Tuchel was adored by the vast majority of Chelsea fans, who were seriously hurt when Todd Boehly suddenly removed him from the top spot.

Followers of the South West Londoners have got used to seeing managers come and go regularly, but Tuchel’s departure seemed to resonate more than most.

A sentiment that has clouded over Potter’s early tenure, with many of the blue community perhaps unfairly comparing him to his predecessor.

Burley backs Potter as Chelsea boss

“There is definitely some sort of Thomas Tuchel love in, for some reason, amongst a bulk of the Chelsea fans,” suggested Burley.

“I know he had some success there, particularly the Champions League, but he had his faults.

“But there is this hankering for ‘why was Thomas Tuchel sacked and just whose Graham Potter to be managing this football club?’

“That’s something that he’s carried with him, I’m sure he’s aware of it. I don’t buy into that. I think the guy is a very good manager, he’s proven it.

“But the big step now for him is proving it now at one of the big boys.”

Potter simply cannot look back at the past success of Tuchel and should instead stare forward into the future.

If he gets caught up in prior glory, the task at hand might become muddied.

Overcoming Arsenal and returning to the Premier League top four table is certainly the first port of call.