Potter did ´an amazing job´ at Chelsea – interim boss Bruno

Interim Chelsea head coach Bruno Saltar believes Graham Potter did “an amazing job” at the club despite his dismissal.

The Blues cut ties with Potter on Sunday following a defeat to Aston Villa that saw the club drop into the bottom half of the Premier League standings.

Potter’s departure came fewer than seven months after his appointment at Stamford Bridge, where he succeeded Champions League winning coach Thomas Tuchel, and on the back of a vast spending spree in the January window.

Inability to get the best out of Chelsea’s array of recruits, with a lack of goals a major issue, ultimately led to Potter’s exit.

Despite all of that, Potter did an impressive job in west London in the eyes of Bruno.

“I’m here right now because Graham and the club thought that was the right step, I’m here to just try to help the club and be the most professional I can,” he said at a pre-match press conference.

“I’m just trying to keep the process going, to collaborate the best that we can. I think Graham did an amazing job. Football is a really complex business and we have to keep going.

“It’s been really difficult at every single level, you have to deal with the press conference, you have to deal with the players. It’s difficult to deal with it, it’s been a really difficult 12 hours.”

-7.4 – Chelsea underperformed their xG by 7.4 during Graham Potter’s Premier League reign, the worst differential of any side since his first game in charge (21 goals from 28.4 xG).

-7.4 | Chelsea
-6.7 | West Ham
-6.1 | Everton
-5.8 | Southampton
-5.3 | Forest

Familiar. pic.twitter.com/3D0iZUAc7y

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 2, 2023

Bruno faces a baptism of fire at Stamford Bridge, with his first game coming against top-four chasing Liverpool, and he expressed his admiration for opposing boss Jurgen Klopp.

“We have to see it as an opportunity for the players. We’re representing Chelsea, a club with amazing history, who are about winning, about dominating,” he added.

“We need to prepare for the game, preparation helps a lot with performance. That’s what players need to focus on.

“Obviously I have pure admiration towards Jurgen. I can’t say anything other than what everyone knows. They’re going through a tough season as well, but have top players.

“We’re expecting a tough game, that’s aggressive because they have high intensity players.”