The one word used more than any other in Graham Potter’s Chelsea press briefings seems to be “suffer”.
It is a mantra that has been drilled into the Chelsea squad since he took over six weeks ago and has helped the Blues earn four points in the past two games without playing well.
Last night, Chelsea had to dig deep again against Brentford to earn a fifth clean sheet in a row, and they have now gone nearly nine hours without conceding a goal.
After surviving sustained periods of pressure at Aston Villa to win 2-0 on Sunday, Potter’s side had to survive a host of dangerous moments last night before a late push for a winner that almost saw their substitutes snatch victory.
In large parts, it is down to a mentality shift in the squad which had started to lose some of the values learned in the early days of Thomas Tuchel’s reign at Stamford Bridge. The German said he wanted Chelsea to be “the team nobody wants to play against”, and that approach led them to their Champions League triumph of 2020.
But standards slipped at the end of Tuchel’s tenure, and Chelsea kept just one clean sheet in their first seven games of the season, which partly led to his sacking.
Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga continued his good form against Brentford and has been crucial to the team’s run of not conceding.
The Spaniard has replaced Edouard Mendy as Chelsea No1, and Potter’s trust has rehabilitated a player who had been back-up for the last two years. His renewed confidence has allowed him to save 94 per cent of shots against him, keeping out 2.1 more goals for Chelsea than statistical models would expect.
“Every player needs confidence and a push from the head coach,” said Arrizabalaga last night. “For a goalkeeper, maybe it is even more important when you play games in a row.”
Under Graham Potter, Chelsea use myriad formations that change from week to week, and even within games
In the back line, Potter is using every player except the injured Reece James and Wesley Fofana. Thiago Silva continues to defy his 38 years, while Kalidou Koulibaly is beginning to get to grips with the Premier League. Trevoh Chalobah and Ben Chilwell, who both were on the fringes under Tuchel, are now back playing at the top of their game.
Under Potter, Chelsea use myriad formations that change from week to week, and even within games. But whether it is a 4-2-2-2, a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-1-2, the guiding principles of being humble and suffering remain.
They are helping the team stay engaged, despite the complexity of Potter’s training sessions, where he often asks players for feedback on his approaches to upcoming matches.
“From now on we are looking at it as a goal for us defenders and as a team [to get those clean sheets],” said Chalobah after the point last night. “If we keep getting the clean sheets, we know that the chances will be created and we will win more games.
“We did heavy work on Brentford. Obviously, we knew them from last season as well, so we were well prepared. We knew the dangers that they cause and I thought we nullified them well today.”
Of course, Chelsea want to build that free-flowing attacking football to push for titles in the future. It is easier to do that from the base of a solid defence and, with just 10 goals conceded this season, they chase their rivals with the joint-second best in the League.
Last night was a tactical battle between Potter and Brentford boss Thomas Frank. Brentford set up in a 3-5-2 and performed admirably in a pulsating contest. Like Potter, Frank is open to changes, but the Bees boss said afterwards that he has also implemented ideas that were “good on paper and **** on grass”.
