Graham Potter’s Replacement: Reasons why Chelsea shouldn’t sign Julian Nagelsmann

Chelsea have been exploring many options for Graham Potter’s replacement, as the Englishman was sacked on Sunday.

The former Brighton Albion gaffer has been relieved of his job at Stamford Bridge, after their 2-0 loss against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Despite the fact that the Blues owners gave him enough backing at the club, the manager failed to turn things around.

Potter is literally the worst Chelsea manager in history, his winning percentage is very low compared to previous gaffers.

Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali said:
“On behalf of everyone at the club, we want to thank Graham sincerely for his contribution to Chelsea.”

“We have the highest degree of respect for Graham as a coach and as a person. He has always conducted himself with professionalism and integrity and we are all disappointed in this outcome.” 

“Along with our incredible fans, we will all be getting behind Bruno and the team as we focus on the rest of the season. We have 10 Premier League games remaining and a Champions League quarter final ahead.”

“We will put every effort and commitment into every one of those games so that we can end the season on a high.” 

Speaking of the Englishman’s exit, the club confirmed that Bruno Saltor will continue as their interim head coach.

Therefore, Bruno is expected to take charge of Liverpool match on Tuesday, and the UEFA Champions League against Real Madrid.

Graham Potter stats at Chelsea

31 games
12 wins
11 defeats
8 draws
33 goals scored
31 goals conceded
39% win rate

Obviously, he recorded the lowest win rate of any Chelsea permanent manager in the 21st century.

Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali aren’t joking, it takes a lot of courage to get rid of the former Brighton Albion boss.

Who does Chelsea want as Graham Potter’s replacement? 

Reportedly, the West London club are still exploring the market, so as to be able to get an experienced manager.

There are many brilliant, tactical, and experienced coaches in Europe’s top-5 leagues, as evidenced by their statistics.

The Blues would definitely want a manager to compete with the likes of Pep Guardiola, Erik ten Hag, Jurgen Klopp, and Mikel Arteta.

However, Julian Nagelsmann is reportedly leading the race to become Chelsea’s new manager, after Potter’s departure.

It’s confirmed that the Chelsea board appreciates the German gaffer, even though he was recently sacked at Bayern Munich.

The likes of Tottenham and Real Madrid are also hell-bent on signing Nagelsmann ahead of next season.

Other managers appreciated by the club, as reported:

• Luis Enrique
• Rúben Amorim
• Mauricio Pochettino
• José Mourinho
• Zinedine Zidane
• Roberto De Zerbi

Nevertheless, Julian Nagelsmann is considered the favorite to become the Blues’ new gaffer, since he’s a young coach.

It’s said that the German coach doesn’t want any managerial jobs until next season, but he may accept the club’s offer.

The West London club haven’t met Bayern Munich or started talks with Nagelsmann, but they appreciate him.

Why was Graham Potter sacked?

Almost all of Chelsea’s fans were disappointed in the Englishman, they expected him to do better than what he did at the club.

Frankly, Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali like Potter, and they are ready to give him enough time to turn things around.

However, one of the reasons he got sacked was because of a lack of progress on the club’s vision.

Chelsea signed him as a result of everything he did at Brighton Albion. However, he didn’t improve anything at Stamford Bridge.

The Premier League side signed many young players for him, because he’s known for improving young footballers.

However, Graham Potter failed to improve the players, as evidenced by how he played the likes of Badiashile, Mudryk, Madueke, and others.

Another reason, Potter struggled to inspire the fans from the first day he arrived at Stamford Bridge.

The fans never liked him, believing he wasn’t an ideal replacement for Thomas Tuchel, and he kept on losing.

It’s said that the players like him, because of his personality and all. Nevertheless, he never gets along with the fans.

The fans have been calling for his exit since he lost back-to-back to Manchester City, saying he’s not the right man.

After giving him enough time to turn things around, which he didn’t. Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali were forced to let him go.

Graham is a physiologist, meaning he can read and bring out the best in players, but that didn’t work for him at Chelsea.

The West London club have many experienced and high profile players, Potter just couldn’t handle them.

Why Chelsea shouldn’t sign Julian Nagelsmann as Graham Potter’s replacement

The West London club sacked Potter because of a lack of progress, so it would be unwise to sign someone similar to him managerially.

Potter and Nagelsmann have many things in common, because they are both young coaches, starting to make names for themselves.

These reasons are enough to justify the fact that Chelsea can do better than signing Julian Nagelsmann as Graham Potter’s replacement.

1. Inexperience 

Obviously, Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali are looking for young managers, who will fit into their long term plans at the club.

However, experienced coaches are needed at big clubs like Chelsea, having seen what Manchester United and Manchester City are doing.

Young managers break at big clubs, it was obvious with what happened with Potter at Stamford Bridge.

Despite the fact of his 100% win rate at Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League.

The Bavarians didn’t think twice before sacking him, signing Thomas Tuchel as his replacement.

With the number of players in the squad, Julian Nagelsmann doesn’t seem to have the ability to manage them.

Experience speaks a lot in the Premier League, particularly when dealing with the likes of Guardiola, Ten Hag, and the rest.

2. No specific system

Just like Graham Potter, Nagelsmann is an elite tactician, which is why many people believe in his managerial prowess.

However, he does change tactics too often, and the German gaffer doesn’t have any specific tactics. That was what happened with Potter.

Changing systems or tactics in every match won’t bring out the best in players, because they won’t understand which direction to follow.

Julian struggled for at least six months when he joined Bayern Munich, before he started to get things right. Still, the Bavarians sacked him.

The West London club needs instant results after getting rid of Graham Potter. Unfortunately, they may not get it from Nagelsmann.

3. Inconsistency

Like I said earlier, the two young gaffers have many things in common, which doesn’t change anything if the Blues sign Julian.

Nagelsmann is very inconsistent with results, he can win today and lose tomorrow. That’s not what Chelsea needs at the moment.

Just because Bayern Munich are in second place in the Bundesliga, losing to Bayer Leverkusen. He was sacked.

There’s nothing like consistent or back-to-back winning in his style, which is very similar to what Potter did at Chelsea.

Apparently, Julian Nagelsmann had 0 defeats in the UEFA Champions League. However, that’s not all that matters.

Bayern Munich are always flying high in European competitions regardless of the manager. His UCL stats cannot be used to weigh him.

In the league of Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Roberto De Zerbi, and others. Chelsea will need consistency to pull through.

Don’t let the Bundesliga fool you

Without being sentimental, the Premier League is way tougher than the German league; the English league is very toxic.

In the Bundesliga, the league title is always between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, perhaps RB Leipzig too.

On the contrary, it’s not like that in the Premier League. No one is unstoppable in the English league.

Julian Nagelsmann may have a flawless record in the Bundesliga. However, it doesn’t count in England.

Let’s take a look at the two managers’ win percentages in management:

Graham Potter

• 148 wins
• 42% win rate

Julian Nagelsmann

• 221 wins
• 57% win rate

It’s believed that the Englishman will do better than that if he manages any team in the Bundesliga.

Therefore, he’s literally on the same level as the German boss. Which means, Nagelsmann cannot offer Chelsea anything different.