Following the long-awaited sacking of Graham Potter, Chelsea is left with deciding who the next leader on the sidelines should be.
Todd Boehly and the CFC ownership group believed in Graham Potter for as long as they felt they could. Football is a results based business, and the former Brighton and Hove Albion boss did not deliver in the way he should he consistently. Players and members of staff were left at a loss for words as they learned of the gaffer’s sacking via the club statement on the website. Potter departs the club, leaving his staff with Bruno Saltor in charge to take care of the coaching duties until a full-time coach has confirmed his arrival to west London.
From questionable lineup decisions to plenty of uninspiring football, it is sad to see a good man like Potter who cared so much about the club be let go, but it seemed to be the right time. With an imperative run in the Champions League on the horizon, Boehly and Co. need to get a man that can guide this talented group of players to a kind of run Thomas Tuchel was able to put together in 2021.
Champions League football is essential for the continued progress of the club, and while Potter may have sank the Blues into the bottom half of the Premier League table, he gave fans of the west London side a belief that another European crown could be at the end of the tunnel. Chelsea FC in the English top flight is completely different to the team that completes against the best in the world across Europe.
The predecessor to Potter needs to find a way to build off those displays in Europe to lead to success in the Premier League. There are plenty of managers being floated around for the currently most intriguing coaching vacancy in world football. Here is why the Blues should punish Bayern Munich and hire the man they just fired following an extremely successful run in the German top-flight with three different clubs.
3 reasons why Julian Nagelsmann is the man for Chelsea
1. Attacking is his bread and butter
The west London outfit desperately needs an attacking identity as the season reaches the final few weeks. Attacking and playing an aggressive pressing style of football has defined Nagelsmann’s time in the German top-flight. He uses an ambitious counter-press out of possession most of the time, forcing the opposition to build out of the back while being swarmed by forwards and attacking midfielders. His style lives off mistakes from backlines. It frustrates opponents and wears them down as the game goes on.
The German has a history of playing a formation anchored by four defenders as he rose up the coaching ranks in Germany, but that does not mean he has not been able to adjust to the Blues’ more preferred formation currently that includes a back-three. This roster lacks any sort of confidence at the moment in front of net. The first half against Liverpool was a perfect example of that. Nagelsmann has the ability to flip the script due to his attention to detail on the offensive end of the pitch.
In the first leg of the Champions League knockout stages at Paris-Saint Germain, Nagelsmann deployed a 3-4-2-1 with Benjamin Pavard, Matthijs de Ligt, and Dayot Upamecano making up the back three. He used João Cancelo, and Kingsley Coman more as wing-back threats, constantly putting pressure on a home side that looked a shell of itself on that particular day. The Blues need a manager that is able to get the most goals out of his team. The defensive solidity will come. No matter the formation, Nagelsmann always preaches a possession-based style that looks to force as many turnovers as possible with its press.
2. Combines youth and experience
Just watching this man on the sideline, it is clear he breathes passion. Currently, Nagelsmann is the frontrunner for the vacancy at the club. According to reports, his age is something the club is concerned about. It should really be the opposite. Being just 34 years young should excite the Blues. Although he has so much to learn managerial wise to make something of himself in the Premier League, his youth fuels his hunger for constant improvement. He has always been the youngster who has found success near the top among the elder statesmen of the game.
At just 28-years-old, Hoffenheim made him the youngest coach in the history of the league. He took over a club in the depths of the Bundesliga, and brought them into the Champions League qualification places. Nagelsmann is not your traditional youthful manager, this guy has a resume. It is not as expansive as some of the other candidates, but what he has done in his home country is very impressive. Since the German departed the club in June of 2019, Hoffenheim has not finished above sixth in the Bundesliga table.
Experience may be what Chelsea need in their dressing room right now, but it is clear Nagelsmann is a young coach that has already shown he has the talent to win in one of Europe’s top-five leagues. He is beyond it age. Not many 35-year-olds can say they defeated Lionel Messi’s team in the Champions League. If Boehly and Co. are looking for someone who has sat at the top of the pinnacle of European football, people like Luis Enrique, or even Zinedine Zidane are a much better fit. Nagelsmann is the wild card in the current picture of potential managerial candidates to take over for the only club in London that has a European cup to its name.
Unlike Potter, the 35-year-old has not only showed he can do more with less resources, he has experience coaching some of the best players in the world at both Leipzig and Bayern. Being frighten about his age is extremely justified given the other options the Blues are considering, but it should by no means be the only reason the club does not hire him.
3. Demanding and cruel in a good way
Unlike Potter, who has a track record of potentially being “too nice”, Nagelsmann is a manager that has a history of not holding back. Potter’s constant media appearances consisted of the same monotonous responses following woeful displays on the pitch. The Blues have had their most successes in the past under leaders who have an “edge” to them both before, after, and throughout the match.
The German has never shied away from telling the media who he felt about his team’s display or even how he thought a specific player performed on that day. He is not afraid to offend any of his players on the team. While that could potentially backfire, it will motivate that particular person to prove this head coach wrong. It could be called into question if the players in the CFC locker room even looked at Potter as their superior.
Nagelsmann forces his players to look up to him due to his assertive mentality that includes his challenging training sessions. Chelsea need some to come in and take control. Many of the managers on the short list for the job have the ability to do so, but given the way his former club sacked him, Nagelsmann has to be out to show Bayern they made the wrong choice. He possesses the sort of attitude that fans and this club crave. Like Thomas Tuchel, he is a tactician of the game, but beyond that, Nagelsmann owns the sort of swagger and cutthroat mentality that are needed to continue moving forward in the world of European football.