Injury crisis is exposing a lack of co-ordinated recruitment for a manager whose success has come on a budget

Imagine you are Graham Potter. You consider Arsenal’s probable team to face your Chelsea side today. You look at Mikel Arteta’s front three. You are not sure who will play on the right but even with Ben Chilwell injured again you have Marc Cucurella to play on that side of the defence as well as the option of a more attacking wing-back. Then you look at the other flank, where Gabriel Martinelli has been in sensational form. You remember how he embarrassed Emerson Royal and unsettled Trent Alexander-Arnold, how his pace and directness have troubled teams all season. With Reece James out, it is an obvious problem.

Potter has taken charge of Chelsea in 11 games. In seven he has started with a back three and two others, against Wolves and the home game against Salzburg, a hybrid system perhaps best described as a 4-2-3-1 when the right-back was very attacking and the left-sided forward had to shuttle back.

Continue reading…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Manchester United 2-2 Manchester City: Women’s Super League – as it happened

A screamer from Tobin Heath helped the leaders United recover from a…

France makes abortion a constitutional right in historic Versailles vote

Eiffel Tower lit up to mark change, seen as way of protecting…

‘Success is a seductive thing’: Ralph Macchio on life after the Karate Kid

Ralph Macchio assured himself of Hollywood immortality when he was cast in…

West Ham United v Liverpool: Premier League – live

Premier League updates from the 12.30pm BST kick-off Live scoreboard | Reds…