Chelsea ‘too big’ for Graham Potter- Mikel Obi

Chelsea's performance under Graham Potter in the 2022–23 season was awful

Former Nigerian International, Mikel Obi, has criticised Graham Potter's job at Chelsea for leading the team to a dismal run of play this season.

The former Chelsea player thinks the former Brighton boss was unable to handle the magnitude of the Stamford Bridge team.

Chelsea are now in 11th position in the English Premier League rankings after just winning 10 of their 29 games in this campaign.

Following that, the Chelsea management board, after holding on to a lot of patience, Potter was shown the exit door.

When speaking to Dubai Eye 103.8 Sport, Mikel, who spent nine years with the Blues under several managers, expressed his belief that the 47-year-old struggled to connect with the players when he was the manager.

“Was the club too big for him to manage? Maybe because when I look at him sometimes on the touchline, it’s like he doesn’t really know what to do … you know, he’s not communicating to the players. He doesn’t tell them what to do on the pitch.”

“Was he given enough time? I think so. I think when you look at where the club is now, I mean what is it, 11th? 11th yeah, seven months. So when you look at it, I mean he’s been given a lot of time,” Mikel said.

Noting Potter was given enough time, he said the club made the right decision to let him go

“He wasn’t a manager who’s always motivated who wants to be very passionate on the touchline.

“Like a manager telling you what to do sometimes. Players need that. We need a bit of a kick up the backside, you know – to be able to wake up.

“I wasn’t seeing that (with Potter),” Mikel added.

The club hired Frank Lampard to lead the squad for the remainder of the 2022–23 season with only a few games remaining.