Kovacic reveals who was to blame for Potter sacking

Robin Bairner

• 8 Apr 2023 10:14 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic has revealed who is to blame for manager Graham Potter losing his job last Sunday.

Potter was sacked following a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge, which left the Blues 11th in the standings with little hope of European football next season.

Frank Lampard has been appointed as interim boss until the end of the season, with the Blues ready to take their time to appoint the third manager of the Todd Boehly era.

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While that takes place, there is some soul searching going on in the blue part of London, with Kovacic confessing that the whole squad has to take their portion of the blame.

“We need to be honest with ourselves,” he told Sky Sports. “In the end it's easier to sack a coach than 30 players, but it's on us as well, we need to do better.

“We have to say thank you to Potter, who was here, who did a good job, but it's not easy when there are many changes here, so it was a tough situation for him as well.”

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Kovacic looking forward to Lampard return

Chelsea have already played one match in the post-Potter era, with his former assistant Bruno Saltor taking command of a scoreless draw against Liverpool that only further underlined their goal scoring problems.

Now that is Lampard’s issue to sort and Kovacic is happy to see the club legend back.

“We know him, he was our coach so it's good news that he is back and trying to change our season because it has not been good,” he admitted. “We had a short meeting. He explained to us what he wants and what his desire is for the end of the season, so we now have the opportunity to go and climb the table in the league as much as we can.

“We have two beautiful games with Real Madrid so there is a possibility and if there is a possibility to finish the season good then we should take it.”

Indeed, Chelsea’s focus will shift primarily to the Champions League, where they face defending champions Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.