Chelsea boss Graham Potter has addressed the fact the travelling Blues support started to chant the name of his predecessor Thomas Tuchel during their 4-0 defeat by Manchester City.
Potter's side have now been dumped out of both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by Pep Guardiola's men, without bagging a single goal against them in the process. Sunday night's showing at the Etihad highlighted the huge gulf in quality between the two teams as the pressure continues to mount on the Chelsea manager.
The Blues failed to lay a glove on their hosts, with Riyad Mahrez firing City in front with a delightful free-kick before World Cup winner Julian Alvarez doubled their advantage from the penalty spot. Kepa Arrizabalaga did his best to distract the striker, but Alvarez was up to the task.
Phil Foden bagged a third before half-time, with Mahrez capping off the win late on with his second and City's fourth. Before that, pro-Tuchel chants could clearly be heard coming out of the Etihad away end, as well as some Chelsea fans singing the name of former owner Roman Abramovich.
After the game, Potter was asked about the fans chanting, to which he explained: "We can't do anything but do our jobs better and work harder. We understand the supporters frustration but our job is to do our job. There are always other opinions, critcism and negativity, but that's part of the challenge."
The Blues boss also gave his thoughts on the game, insisting there were some positives as he added: "We were second best to a very good side. Even though it was a cagey opening 20 minutes, we couldn't attack the backline as much as we'd like. Man City did really well in terms of stopping us doing that, but still we struggled.
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"The first half was painful and tough for us all. The second half we had to respond and there were some positives there in terms of the young players. But we're disappointed to go out of the competition."
Potter was asked whether he is happy with the contributions made by the more senior figures in the squad, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang a notable absentee from the entire match-day squad.
The former Brighton boss replied: "This opponent is the worst opponent you can play when things aren't going well because they can make it look like you aren't trying.
"I'm working with the players and I don't feel the sense of any players with a poor attitude.
"Everyone wants to try to do better but we're going through a bad moment and in these moments, you need somebody to blame."
The Chelsea manager did urge the fanbase to stick together when asked about the chants for Tuchel, claiming: "We need to stay together as group, support each other, and I’m sure we will get the support of the supporters when we see good performances and results."
