Potter Reveals 2 Chelsea Players ‘Bothering’ Him Ahead Of Champions League Against RB Salzburg

Chelsea manager Graham Potter has raised his concerns about some players as Chelsea prepares to face RB Salzburg on Tuesday in Austria.

Infoexpert24 reports that with a victory, Chelsea would guarantee a spot in the Round of 16 with one game to spare in the group stage.

The Blues would also be exacting revenge for Potter’s first match in charge of Chelsea, which ended in a 1-1 stalemate at Stamford Bridge.

Unfortunately, since that meeting, Chelsea’s injury situation has gotten worse. Reece James, N’Golo Kanté, and Wesley Fofana remain out for the foreseeable future, and now they have knee concerns for Mateo Kovačić and Kalidou Koulibaly as well. The former may just need some rest, but the latter could miss some time — we’re still waiting for any official news or updates.

Speaking on TalkSport, former Blues player Tony Cascarino admitted that’s where the frustration for Potter will lie. “He is going to be bothered by the ability of his forward line to get goals,” Cascarino said.

“Aubameyang has not really got going, yes he has had his couple of moments. He was totally off the pace yesterday. Sterling is not playing particularly well, where he is running into defenders more often than not.

“Again these are top players, these are players that you expect so much more from. Apart from Mason Mount’s double last week at Villa Park, they don’t look like they have got goals in their side. They have lost Reece James, which is a big outlet on the right-hand side for them, but generally, they don’t look [like] a side that’s going to have a load of goals in them.”

Raheem Sterling is yet to score since Potter’s first game against RB Salzburg and has been uncomfortably shifted across the team to wingback. Aubameyang has finished the chances on offer but struggles to create them himself. Mount’s return to form has been timely but if the rest isn’t clicking into gear then he is, in essence, the only player serving up chances in the current team, and even that isn’t getting the best out of him.

A lot of this comes down to having an unbalanced, unfit set of midfielders not set up to create chances whilst losing Reece James amplifies the point even more. The individual form of players is a worry as well and Potter must find the holy grail and a way to structure his team whilst getting the balance right at both ends of the pitch.