Graham Potter has advised Chelsea fans against expecting an easy transition from the squad he is in charge of because he is convinced that the team will have to go through some hardship before things at the team start to improve.
It could be recalled that Potter moved from Brighton to Stamford Bridge earlier this year after Thomas Tuchel was suddenly fired, and he has had a successful start to his tenure as new Chelsea manager.
Then, a nine-game unbeaten streak that included draws against Brentford and Red Bull Salzburg was abruptly interrupted by a 4-1 loss against Graham Potter’s previous team during the weekend.
Despite the unexpected result of the game, Potter insists that he does not consider the club’s loss to Brighton to be a shameful one. However, he kept reminding supporters that the team will continue to go through pain and misery before things will dramatically change.
Potter said after the game;
“I think it’s a case of analysing the game, being calm, being fair. It’s not necessarily about the players, it’s about all of us including myself, how we can improve, what we can do better. It’s not a disgrace to lose here.”
Potter said that Brighton had more grit and better players than his side, which is why his Chelsea team struggled to get the game going.
“You could see the opponent was very motivated and they have some really good players. We got off to a bad start and it was not a pleasant afternoon for us. But you have to have that sometimes if you want to make progress.”
The Chelsea manager further said that;
“If you think the line is going to go straight up, it’s impossible. That team you see out there for Brighton wasn’t the team that was there three years ago. There is a process of pain you have to go through and you have to keep trying to improve.”
Graham Potter went on to say that no matter what you learn, you will undoubtedly run into some challenges and that it is hard to develop without occasionally encountering setbacks.
“Whatever you learn, whenever you’re trying to master something or trying to get better at it, you need to sometimes have a bit of step back, you need to suffer or go through a bad experience to then grow and be better. That’s how I see it anyway,” – he said.