Chelsea sink to 28-year low thanks to Potter's Badiashile blunder

Jacque Talbot

• 1 Apr 2023 20:15 BST
• 3 min read

Graham Potter opted to leave Benoit Badiashile on the bench and go for a centre-back pairing of two full-backs.

Chelsea lost at home to Aston Villa 2-0 but heads were scratched even before the whistle blew to start the Premier League contest. Potter opted to use Kalidou Koulibaly in the middle of fullbacks Reece James and Marc Cucurella - but the gamble didn’t pay off in the slightest.

Ollie Watkins opened the scoring at Stamford Bridge after beating the offside trap set up by the backline, before lobbing the ball over Kepa Arrizabalaga. John McGinn then doubled the scoreline with a breathtaking shot from outside the box.

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The result means that Chelsea are in their lowest position after playing 28 Premier League matches since the 1994/95 season - data sourced by Scott Saunders.

Chelsea are in their lowest position after playing 28 Premier League matches since the 1994/95 season.

— Scott Saunders (@_scottsaunders) April 1, 2023

It always going to be a turbulent start to life for Potter who was coming in at a time when morale was at its lowest and Thomas Tuchel, who won the Champions League with the club, had just been sacked.

There had been a glimmer of hope in the wins over Leeds, Borussia Dortmund, and then Leicester City - but now results have started to wane again.

You could make the argument that it’s a matter of poor confidence, but the bizarre gamble of using just one traditional centre-back against mid-table Villa and losing is unforgivable.

Well, that’s the general consensus of the supporters anyway, a majority of which want Potter out and a new man to take his place.

Nagelsmann an option

The sacking of Julian Nagelsmann from Bayern Munich would have surely intrigued Todd Boehly. There have been links between Chelsea and Marco Silva and, of course, Mauricio Pochettino as well.

The one saving grace is that Potter has kept the Blues in contention in the Champions League - but with Real Madrid in the quarterfinals, you wouldn’t hold out much hope in that regard, and anything other than a Potter sacking until then would come as a shock.