Chelsea manager Graham Potter is facing an “unmanageable situation” at Stamford Bridge, according to former England goalkeeper Rob Green.
Potter was appointed manager at the club in September after the sacking of Thomas Tuchel, but finds himself under serious pressure after a run of just two wins in 14 games.
Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Southampton leaves Chelsea tenth in the Premier League, with the former Brighton manager so far struggling to find consistency and settle on his best side.
With the backing of a new ownership group led by Todd Boehly, Chelsea spent a combined total of close to £600 million in the summer and January transfer windows, leaving Potter with an oversized squad and needing to embed several new faces.
Green believes that has left Potter’s job close to unworkable, and fears that the situation may only worsen.
“With the amount of players there, it’s an unmanageable situation,” said Green, who closed his career with a year at Chelsea during the 2018/19 season, on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Once the crowd turns, it starts to get ugly and the players get affected and go into their shells.
“You can already see it from the players, from an attacking perspective and then it gets harder.”
Potter handed a full Chelsea debut to young striker David Fofana against Southampton, but the January signing from Borussia Dortmund was quiet before being substituted at half-time.
The central forward role is a problem position for the club despite such a significant outlay, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang currently out of favour and excluded from Chelsea’s Champions League squad.
While Potter is under fire after securing just nine wins from his 25 games since being appointed on a five-year deal, the Englishman is reported to retain the backing of Boehly.
That pleases Premier League winning striker Chris Sutton, who believes Potter must settle on his best side to improve performances on the pitch.
Sutton explained: “With so many players coming in, he is uncertain on his starting line-up so he has chopped and changed and you never get continuity when you do that.
“Goalscoring is a problem. But I like that Todd Boehly, on the face of it, is backing him long-term.”
Chelsea next visit Spurs in the league on Sunday.
