Chelsea have officially named 47-year-old Graham Potter as their new coach, replacing Thomas Tuchel, and he will face Milan in the Champions League next month.
The Premier League side surprisingly pulled the plug on Tuchel yesterday following a 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb that left them bottom of their Champions League group.
Milan were held to a 1-1 draw away to RB Salzburg.
Potter was appointed after Chelsea bought him out of his contract with Brighton and Hove Albion, where he had been since May 2019.
The European showdowns with Milan are at Stamford Bridge on October 5 and at San Siro on October 11.
Potter has only participated in European competition once before, in 2017-18 at the helm of Osterunds FK in the Europa League.
He was in charge for eight wins, three draws and as many defeats.
“We are thrilled to bring Graham to Chelsea,” said club owner Todd Boehly.
“He is a proven coach and an innovator in the Premier League who fits our vision for the Club. Not only is he extremely talented on the pitch, he has skills and capabilities that extend beyond the pitch which will make Chelsea a more successful Club.
“He has had a major impact at his previous Clubs and we look forward to his positive impact at Chelsea. We look forward to supporting him, his coaching team and the squad in realising their full potential in the coming months and years.”
Chelsea have had a rough start to the season in the Premier League too, managing three wins, a draw and two defeats.
Chelsea are such a reactionary club that I find it hard to imagine anyone supporting them. No other club would fire a UCL winning manager less than 2 years on.
As a Milan fan, I am happy my club is no longer in this stage.
I also believe we’re gonna shock a lot of people in the 2 games vs Chelsea, the way Napoli did to Liverpool. Serie A is called farmers league by fans of other leagues so I want all Italian teams to show what they are made of.
First of all, why would Chelsea gave Tuchel 250m to spend only to sack him? It’s like asking your gf to decorate your home for you only to dump her the following week.
Anyway, Chelsea has always been known to perform better under a new coach, and sometimes going all the way to even winning UCL lol. So, I would be wary. Potter might be inexperienced, but he seems to be building a nice team at Brighton and touted as the next England NT coach. Let’s see how it unfolds.
If the 7/9 were smart which they are not, they should sack PhD Max during the WC and appoint Tuchel. The only way that a small club will learn is to force them to play in the 21st Century. Never going to happen as the dna of this club is to go full pedal to the medieval metal.
Allegri has to improve immediately – or else tuchel / pochetino will take over.
I wouldnt want pochetino, too much of a yes man, rather have tuchel/zidane
I see FI again pretty quick to tangle themselves in politics with the post regarding Lizzy. I bet the Irish contingent of Serie A fans on here aren’t too pleased with your serenading of a weapons dealer, and a woman who saved her minor fondler of a son from facing the courts. As shamrock rovers put it beautifully last night…Lizzy’s in a box. That is all.