Nottingham Forest 1-1 Chelsea: 3 lessons learned

Careful with the overreactions

Post-Forest twitter was filled with many angry Chelsea fan reactions at the team and the manager’s performance. Some complained of an apparent lack of drive from many of the Blues’ supposed dressing room leaders, while others criticised Potter for reacting too slowly to a game that was rapidly slipping out of CFC’s control come the second half. While these complaints are valid, what fans have to simultaneously recognise is that calling for a change of manager is simply not the answer – at least in this moment in time. Potter has had to wrestle with injuries to various key players including Reece James, Ben Chilwell and N’golo Kante since taking over from Thomas Tuchel. Therefore it is consequentially difficult to pass judgment on a coach that does not yet have the opportunity to field his strongest eleven.

Tuchel’s departure still feels raw and probably unjustified in the hearts and minds of many Chelsea supporters. Yet to draw constant comparisons between the two coaches only contributes to a toxicity that cannot be said to be beneficial to the players nor the club at present. Tuchel is gone and while Potter has had his fair share of management missteps and moments of naivety, the Englishman is only a couple of months into his job and fans simply have to exercise patience.

Another area of note are increased calls to “pay whatever it takes” to sign Enzo Fernandez to add much needed steel and composure into the middle of the park. In spite of how good fans may think Fernandez to be, it is unrealistic to expect a 21-year-old to be the magical answer to all of the west London team‘s problems on and off the field. Yes, the performance against Forest was certainly undesirable, especially with a double header against Manchester City upcoming.

Calling for Potter to be sacked and Enzo Fernandez to be signed as a “show of ambition” may not be the solution that some fans may consider them to be. Time will tell if the club has indeed made the right decision to replace Tuchel with Potter. Until such time, Chelsea fans would do well to be careful with their various overreactions on social media.