Ian Wright questioned Chelsea manager Graham Potter’s decision to deploy Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic as wing-backs despite having players more suitable options on the bench in Saturday’s 4-1 defeat to Brighton.
It was certainly a very bold decision from Potter to field a starting line-up with only three recognised defenders against his former club.
A similar structure proved successful in Salzburg just a few days ago, but this time Chelsea had to pay the price.
The hosts scored three goals in the first half as Potter’s men could not deal with their high pressing.
Wright argued that most of Chelsea’s problems stemmed from Sterling and Pulisic’s positioning.
“Well, the wing-backs,” the former England international told BBC MOTD when asked about what went wrong for Chelsea at the Amex Stadium.
“They got [Cesar] Azpilicueta and [Ben] Chilwell on the bench, yet started Pulisic and Sterling. I found that very confusing.
“When you look at the positions that they took up, they weren’t really helping [Trevoh] Chalobah, [Marc] Cucurella, or Thiago Silva.
“What was happening was that they [the centre-backs] got pulled all over the place.
“There is no real cover because Pulisic and Sterling weren’t coming back to help.”
In his post-match press conference, Potter said he had to accept that using Sterling and Pulisic as wing-backs, which clearly did not work in the game, made him look “a bit of a fool”.
The manager also pointed out how injury absences of four key players; Reece James, Kalidou Koulibaly, Wesley Fofana, and N’Golo Kante, means team selection is a constant challenge.
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