Kalidou Koulibaly has given his verdict on Graham Potter's dismissal as Chelsea boss. The 47-year-old was sacked on Sunday evening following the Blues' defeat to Aston Villa – Bruno Saltor, who followed Potter from Brighton as one of his assistants, has temporarily taken the reins in his absence.
While numerous players have posted messages on social media to honour their former manager, many of his former colleagues are yet to break their silence on the matter. Speaking to Sky Sports, Koulibaly stepped up to the plate and insisted that the west London outfit will persevere through adversity.
"Yes it’s a difficult moment for us," the former Napoli defender said. "We knew today, one day ago, that Graham Potter is not with us anymore but we have to keep on concentrating, we have a tough game tonight in the Bridge. We want to show a nice face of Chelsea and we’re going to give everything on the pitch."
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Ruben Loftus-Cheek broke his silence since Potter's sacking in an interview with the club's official website. While the 27-year-old didn't directly address the Englishman's dismissal, he compared the Blues' recent misfortunes with that of Liverpool, who too are struggling for form.
"The games against Liverpool are always intense physically and a battle," Loftus-Cheek said. "They haven’t been at their best like they have been for the last few years and the standard they’ve set is very high.
"Just like us they’ve had a bit of change. Not as much, but they’ve had some players go out, some important players for them in the last few seasons that have been a big factor in their success. The likes of Sadio Mane and players like this. Sometimes you don’t realise how much of an effect they have on the team.
"But the Premier League is so hard these days," Loftus-Cheek added. "I don’t think people understand that the level of the football is so high and it’s getting higher. The intensity is so high with all the teams, anyone can beat anyone and to be at the top of the Premier League is a big feat.
"And it’s very hard to keep doing that. So it’s what happens in football but they’ve picked up their form recently. They can always just go out and beat Manchester United 7-0 and that’s how it is, so we always have to be prepared for teams like this."
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