‘Alarm bells’: Tony Cascarino very worried by what Graham Potter has done in Chelsea's last three PL games

By Nathaniel Kay

Tony Cascarino says it should be a concern that Graham Potter has changed his striker for each of the past three Premier League matches.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Cascarino criticised the Chelsea manager for repeatedly rotating his number nine to no avail.

Potter has struggled to settle upon his strongest XI since replacing Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season.

Each line-up he throws out is different to the previous one.

There is simply no consistency in the team selection, leaving fans, pundits and rivals alike in the dark over who is going to play.

Injuries have certainly been a massive factor in the constant changing of the 11.

Against Newcastle United on Saturday, Potter was without six recognised senior players.

Both Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Cesar Azpilicueta were forced off prematurely through injury during the contest.

Chelsea clogged up with forwards

Chelsea’s defence has mainly been disrupted by all the absentees.

Yet, one area Potter is not light on is the front line.

He has numerous offensive options to call-upon, which Cascarino actually views as a negative.   

“One thing that Graham Potter hasn’t got right is the centre-forward position, because no one looks like scoring on a regular basis,” said the former Blue.

“Let’s take the last three Premier League games. The centre-forward against Brighton was (Kai) Havertz: lost 4-1.

“The centre-forward against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge was (Pierre-Emerick) Aubameyang: lost 1-0.

“The centre-forward against Newcastle was (Armando) Broja. So, in the last three Premier League games, you’ve had a different centre-forward.

“That to me is alarm bells immediately.”

Chelsea’s struggling strikers

Aside from winning matches, Chelsea’s biggest issue has been putting the ball in the back of the net.

In Havertz, Aubameyang and Broja, this task – on paper at least – shouldn’t be difficult.

This hasn’t been the case, however.

Aubameyang’s last goal arrived over a month ago against AC Milan.

Broja has only converted once all season, whilst Havertz is yet to break the four-goal barrier mark in the league.

None have made a definitive claim to being the club’s first-choice striker, an accolade nobody seems to want.

Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner both passed up the opportunity by leaving Chelsea over the summer.

Before that, the likes of Alvaro Morata, Gonzalo Higuaín, Michy Batshuayi and Radamel Falcao have all tried and failed.

When will the curse end?

Nathaniel Kay

"Nathaniel is a football journalist who graduated from the University of Derby. He worked at Burton Albion as part of their media team for two years. Nathaniel produced regular articles for the club’s official website and match-day programme. He covered the 2018 U20 Women’s World Cup in Brittany and has reported from grounds ranging from non-league up to the Premier League. Nathaniel is a full-time writer for the Chelsea Chronicle, and was formerly their social media man. His footballing career reached the sparkling heights of winning the Under-13s Bloxham Tournament in 2011."