Patrick Vieira believes Graham Potter has earned the chance to manage Chelsea after doing “fantastically well” with Brighton and Hove Albion.
Vieira’s Crystal Palace side will be Potter’s first opponents in the Premier League as the Blues boss. The 47-year-old was brought in to succeed Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge after the German was sacked following a poor start to the season.
At Brighton, Potter guided the club to a record ninth-placed finish in the Premier League last term and excelled at the start of the 2022/23 season. Albion managed four wins in six games and sit fourth in the table at the time Potter departed the club.
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“We just look at what he has been doing at Brighton, and analysing the first game [Chelsea] played in the Champions League. Seeing if there is something we can take to allow ourselves to perform in a better way,” said Vieira.
“When a manager works well for a couple of years, he deserves a chance in one of the top teams. When you look at his record in the last couple of years, he’s been doing fantastically well with Brighton and today he’s with Chelsea. I wish him all the best – after the game on Saturday.”
Both sides have not played in the Premier League since September 3 after games were postponed following the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. Palace were scheduled to play at Manchester United and at home against Brighton, with the latter cancelled due to planned rail strikes.
While Palace have been out of action, Chelsea have competed in two Champions League games, with Dinamo Zagreb Tuchel’s last game in charge of the Blues before Potter took his bow at Stamford Bridge against Red Bull Salzburg, drawing 1-1.
Vieira applauded his Palace players for their dedication after almost a month of being out action, saying: “Training has been challenging, because the last time we played a competitive game was quite a while ago. It was a challenge to keep the players focused.
“But we are looking forward to the game. We will face one of the best teams in the Premier League and we will be ready for that. We worked well in the last couple of weeks and we will be ready to compete.”
“[We were] working hard and trying to get the physical side of the game, keeping it higher. Of course, when you don’t play games it is quite difficult to keep that physical attribute, but I was really pleased with the concentration and the work ethic of the players.
“It is challenging when you work hard all week and there is no game. There is a frustration there, but I was really pleased with how the players kept working.”
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