Potter-ball emerges
There has been very little time for Graham Potter to undertake tactical work with his Chelsea players on the training pitches at Cobham. The Blues' relentless fixture schedule ahead of the World Cup has resulted in the majority of sessions being focused on pre-match preparation or recovery.
Yet the free-flowing football produced for much of the game against Red Bull Salzburg last night highlighted that attacking combinations are beginning to be understood and implemented by the Chelsea players. The hope is they will be repeated in the matches ahead – and finished off far more clinically.
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the main beneficiary of Chelsea's smooth passing combinations. The 33-year-old was presented with a glorious opportunity in the opening period after the Blues had cut through the Salzburg midfield and defence but saw his close-range effort saved.
Another sharp one-touch pass move late in the half involving Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling almost got Aubameyang in on goal once more. Again he was denied by the impressive Philipp Köhn in the Salzburg goal.
Come the interval, Chelsea should have been at least three goals clear. That they weren't was punished soon after the restart as Junior Adama was able to prod a shot beyond Kepa Arrizabalga after Salzburg had created an overload at the back post after a well-constructed attack of their own.
For a few brief minutes, Salzburg had Chelsea rattled. Fortunately, Potter's side regained their composure and further chances were fashioned but not taken. Step up Havertz. Shortly after the hour mark, the German received the ball on the edge of the penalty area, turned and shifted it out of his feet in one motion, and then fired an unstoppable shot beyond Köhn and off the crossbar.
"His quality is there; he’s an incredibly talented player," Potter said about the German during his post-match press conference. "He’s been nearly there and obviously, scoring a goal like that is bound to help. I wouldn’t be able to score a goal like that to be fair, I can only imagine! It’s a fantastic strike and an indication of the quality he has. So I’m really pleased for him.”
Chelsea did come under late pressure as Salzburg adopted a more physical approach. Trevoh Chalobah stood out during the latter stages as he won header after header and Thiago Silva continued to marshall the side expertly even after suffering from a nasty fall after challenging Benjamin Sesko for a header.
The Brazilian remains the most composed of figures in the most heated of environments. He may not wear the captain's armband but leads the team forcefully, as Marc Cucurella discovered late in the contest.
As the game ticked into stoppage time – and with Chelsea holding a one-goal advantage – the Spaniard turned toward his own half to take a throw-in. Silva, with his many years of experience, knew better and forcefully yelled across the pitch and directed Cucurella to play forward and not invite any pressure. It was the right thing to do to help the Blues over the line.
Potter maintains fine start
It was never going to be easy for Potter to follow in the footsteps of Thomas Tuchel as Chelsea's head coach. Yet he has made an impressive start to life at Stamford Bridge. Performances have been mixed but results have largely been positive – and after nine matches the 47-year-old remains unbeaten.
It is a noteworthy achievement. As highlighted by official club historian Rick Glanvill, Potter is the first Englishman to oversee nine matches without defeat as Chelsea boss since William Lewis all the way back in 1906/07. So a little piece of Blues history was written in Austria last night.
Arsenal advantage gained
Chelsea’s victory in Austria put them on the brink of qualifying for the knockout stage as group winners. What they needed was AC Milan to take points off Dinamo Zagreb later in the evening. And that is exactly what happened.
The Rossoneri, who were beaten home and away by Potter’s side, secured a convincing victory in Croatia. Matteo Gabbia opened the scoring before goals from Rafael Leao, who was the subject of a bid by Chelsea in the summer, former blue Olivier Giroud, and an own goal from Robert Ljubičić secured victory for the Serie A champions in Croatia.
It means that Chelsea’s final group game against Dinamo next Wednesday has nothing riding on it – at least from the Blues' perspective. So the match will provide Potter with an opportunity to give minutes to players who need them and rest those ahead of the Premier League clash against Arsenal.
“We want to win every game we play, that is the mentality we have to have,” said the Chelsea head coach. “But clearly, we have a game at the weekend and another game the weekend after, so maybe we can rotate a little bit. But we will try our best.”
There may be a start for Edouard Mendy, who has lost his place in goal in recent weeks to Kepa. Denis Zakaria, yet to make an appearance since joining on loan from Juventus, may even be handed his debut by Potter. The likes of Hakim Ziyech and Armando Broja will also be confident of starting.
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