This decision, as annoyed as the fans were with it, wasn’t in and of itself the issue. The main issue was Boehly’s decision to invest as much as he did into Potter and his staff. Making the latter one of the highest-paid managers in the league was not necessary, and putting him on for five years was silly. Boehly acted not like a hyper-successful businessman but like an excited little boy.
The first sign of trouble that he might have made a mistake, was the fact that Chelsea failed to compete against any of the sides that they usually compete with. Potter’s men were swatted aside by Manchester City in the League Cup and FA Cup third rounds. There was also a loss to Manchester City again in the league. That made it three games against City without scoring while conceding seven in total. CFC played three crucial games before the World Cup: Brighton and Hove Albion, third-placed Newcastle United at the time, and league leaders Arsenal.
The Blues not only lost all three, but they also conceded 6.62 expected goals against (xGA) and created 1.72 expected goals (xG) combined across all three games. Chelsea also conceded six goals and scored one across those games. That then made it Brighton, Arsenal, Newcastle United, and Man City, that the west London outfit lost games again while not competing.