Aston Villa manager Unai Emery had some complimentary words for Graham Potter just before he was sacked by Chelsea.
Graham Potter‘s last game in charge of Chelsea was against Villa, a game the Blues went on to lose 2-0.
That proved to be the final straw for Chelsea’s owners, who sacked Potter shortly afterwards.
The 49-year-old has been out of work since then. However, Potter is not blaming Chelsea for the position he currently finds himself in in his career.
- READ MORE: Graham Potter really impressed with what Enzo Maresca has done with ‘amazing’ Chelsea player
Chelsea impressed Unai Emery
Despite losing that day, Emery still seemed to be impressed with Chelsea’s performance at Stamford Bridge.
In fact, Potter has revealed that the Spaniard told him and his coaching staff after the game that they did not deserve to lose.
Discussing his time at Chelsea on High Performance, Potter said: “We lost to Aston Villa. That was the game we lost, it was our final game. My assistant’s friends with Unai and Unai was like, ‘You played well, pushed us back and you didn’t deserve to lose’.
“But I think by that point, the owners, the pressure was that much and the noise was that strong that they felt that they had to do something.”
Chelsea spent heavily during the 2023 January transfer window, but Potter had concerns over the players Chelsea were signing.
A look back at Graham Potter’s final game in charge of Chelsea
Looking at some of the statistics from Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat against Villa towards the end of the 2022/23 season, Emery was right. The Blues probably did deserve to win the match.
In total, they had 27 shots to Villa’s five. Potter’s side also had 69% ball possession, so it was a really dominant performance.
In the end, though, Chelsea failed to take their chances and turn their possession into anything and paid for it.
Villa were clinical, scoring from their two shots on target to claim all three points and end Potter’s short tenure as Chelsea manager.
Chelsea’s next game this season is against Villa, but supporters will be feeling much more confident going into this than Potter’s final match. The Blues are flying under Enzo Maresca right now, sitting in third place and just one point behind Premier League champions Manchester City.
With City losing 4-0 against Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend, right now, Chelsea may actually be Liverpool’s biggest title challengers.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
