Ian Wright believes Graham Potter’s tendency to tweak his formation is one of the main worries for Chelsea after Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United.
Chelsea suffered their third consecutive defeat in the Premier League at St James’ Park which has put a lot of pressure on their new manager, Potter.
Third-placed Newcastle are in great form and were always going to be a tough opponent, but very few, if any, expected Chelsea to be completely outplayed by Eddie Howe’s men.
Potter tried at least three formations; 3-4-3, 3-5-2, and 4-4-2, throughout the game, but to no avail.
According to Wright, rather than a showcase of Potter’s tactical flexibility, this was actually a concern.
“Their main worries are the continuous changing of formation and 17 goals in 14 games is not a good front five,” the former England international told BBC MOTD.
“No team in the top half [of the Premier League] have scored fewer, and they only had seven touches inside the opposition box [against Newcastle].
“What I would say is that they [Chelsea] need to give him time.
“[Jurgen] Klopp had time [at Liverpool] and we’ve seen what [Mikel] Arteta is doing [at Arsenal] at the moment.
“Hopefully he [Potter] will get that time.”
Potter has always been a manager who likes to make in-game changes, even since before he arrived at Chelsea, so it is rather unfair to criticise it only based on the recent results.
However, the Chelsea manager’s recent formation changes were mostly to compensate for losing the midfield battle, as he himself admitted after the weekend’s game, which is far from ideal.
The extensive injury list also means a number of Chelsea players had to play in unnatural roles, and it really showed in recent games.
Keep up to date with all the latest Chelsea news and opinion by following The Chelsea Chronicle’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
