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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Mark Jones

Graham Potter's Chelsea in-tray with six issues for new Blues boss to solve immediately

Chelsea have acted swiftly in appointing Graham Potter following Wednesday's sacking of Thomas Tuchel, and the now former Brighton boss won't really have had time to catch his breath as he prepares to take on his new role.

Despite his impressive feats with the Seagulls this really was an opportunity that he couldn't turn down, but as he heads in to Chelsea's Cobham training base on Friday he'll do so with the knowledge that plenty of work lies ahead of him.

This is a Chelsea squad that, if you go back as far as Cesar Azpilicueta's arrival in 2012, has now been overseen by nine different managers, with the majority coming together in the past three years under the stewardship of Frank Lampard and then Tuchel.

Can Potter get a tune out of them?

Here's what is awaiting him on day one.

Win over the doubters in the squad

Raheem Sterling has spent all of his formative years as a footballer under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Thiago Silva has seen big names come and go at Paris Saint-Germain, including Carlo Ancelotti who has also influenced Kalidou Koulibaly's career.

Mateo Kovacic got to bask in the glow of Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid, while we all know that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had a relationship with Thomas Tuchel that lasted longer than just their one game together at Chelsea. There are even still players around who played under Jose Mourinho in SW6.

Several Chelsea players have played under well-known managers (PA)

Potter is clearly an excellent manager and someone who can achieve great things with such a talented group, but is he enough of a name for that squad to warm to?

These are players used to rubbing shoulders with world famous football figures, with the above named managers all Champions League winners. Can the 47-year-old from Solihull - who has admitted he'll never be a "sexy manager" - command their respect?

Get the attack to click

If there is one thing that Chelsea became known for under Tuchel it is just how incredibly regularly their defenders would find the net.

Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger, Cesar Azpilicueta and Ben Chilwell would all chip in with strikes from time to time, while at times Reece James would score with the regularity of an attacking midfield player. He'd often need to as well.

Because what about the highly paid, and highly prized forward line?

It was clear Chelsea needed a No.9 in the summer, and why they eventually went for Aubameyang with what proved to be one of Tuchel's last acts, but with last season's top scorer Romelu Lukaku gone (he netted 15, but only eight in the Premier League ) more goals are needed.

Sterling has started well in that regard, but the likes of Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount could do with chipping in a bit more.

Make Mount the man

The assessment might be harsh on Mount, who was the club's top league goalscorer with 11 last season and has a strong tally of 55 career goals under his belt at the age of 23, plus four for England.

Once mocked for being Frank Lampard's 'teacher's pet', Mount proved under Tuchel that he has what it takes to be a consistent performer at the top level, and now he can take his game to new heights under Potter, a manager who is sure to appreciate the technical and tactical ability that he has.

Mason Mount could be a key player under Potter (REUTERS)

Mount's Chelsea contract runs out at the end of next season, and while it is obvious that the homegrown product won't want to leave despite the club's recent state of flux, getting him tied down to a new deal - with discussions currently ongoing - would be a strong start for the new man in charge.

Nail down a way of playing

Tuchel's latter weeks in the job saw him switch between three and four at the back, a fine ability if you have it, and something that a squad of Chelsea's quality can do, but at a time when the team was struggling it was probably wise to stick with what works best.

The German started with a back four in the 2-1 defeat at Southampton, and prior to that in the victory by the same scoreline at home to Leicester, although he largely deployed the latter purely to give a game to Conor Gallagher who ended up getting sent off after 28 minutes.

The subsequent arrival of Wesley Fofana has added another option to a potential back three, and Potter is likely to favour that system given that he often deployed it so impressively at Brighton, where of course he had Chelsea new boy Marc Cucurella on the left.

Get the fans onside

This will almost go hand-in-hand with point one, with the Chelsea supporters just as important to win over as some of the club's big-name players.

The first managerial appointment of the Todd Boehly era is very different one to the type we'd see under Roman Abramovich, when the biggest, best and brightest names would be attracted to west London by the oligarch's riches.

To borrow from some other American owners in the Premier League, this is an appointment closer to when Fenway Sports Group brought Brendan Rodgers to Liverpool in 2012, or even the Kroenkes and Mikel Arteta at Arsenal.

It is a different direction, and fans may have to be patient before Premier League title challenges become the norm.

Keep Boehly at arm's length

Todd Boehly has made Potter his first managerial appointment (AFP via Getty Images)

It would have been fascinating to have been a fly on the wall in conversations between Potter and Boehly, two men who would surely never have heard of the other one a few short months ago.

The Chelsea owner has adopted a hands-on approach since arriving in the summer, too hands on for many, but in appointing Potter he has to understand that he is appointing a coach who needs time to implement methods and work in the set frame around him.

Potter, who simply couldn't turn this opportunity down, is sure to have pleaded with his new boss to allow him this during his interview, and Boehly will have agreed. He is after all saying all the right things in the club statement confirming Potter's arrival.

But words and actions are often different things, particularly where Chelsea are concerned.

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