Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says Chelsea must give Graham Potter time to implement his ideas at Stamford Bridge.
Following on from Thursday’s 1-0 Premier League win in the capital which left Chelsea in 10th place, Guardiola’s City dumped Potter’s side out of the FA Cup with a resounding 4-0 win at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Riyad Mahrez opened the scoring with a fine free-kick before Julian Alvarez’s penalty and a Phil Foden strike made it 3-0 before the break. Mahrez finished the job with another spot-kick in the second half.
The halftime whistle was greeted with boos from the traveling support, and by the second half Chelsea fans were singing the name of former owner Roman Abramovich and Potter’s predecessor Thomas Tuchel as they recalled happier times.
But Guardiola urged Chelsea to stick with their man.
“I would say to (Chelsea owner) Todd Boehly, give him time,” Guardiola said.
“I know in big clubs results are important but I’d say give him time.
“The second half is what he is. What he’s done at (former club) Brighton is outstanding, but … we need time in the first season.
“I had (Lionel) Messi in Barcelona my first season so I didn’t need two seasons because Messi was there.”
Chelsea did not manage a shot in a first half Potter described as “painful”, failing to even vaguely threaten Stefan Ortega’s goal until a Mason Mount shot in the 54th minute which was deflected wide
Potter could point to an ongoing injury crisis which kept nine players out of this fixture and led to teenager Bashir Humphreys making his senior debut in defense, but he accepted Chelsea fans needed to see more.
“The results in a small space of time are not positive,” he said.
“You can make excuses and look for reasons, or say it isn’t good enough. Both of those answers are correct.
“We have to keep improving and stick together because clearly we are suffering as a football club and it’s not nice at all. But that’s where we are at the moment.
“You understand the supporters’ frustration, we respect that. But our job is to do our job and keep working.
“Everyone wants to try and do better. There is support in the dressing room.
“We are just going through a bad moment and sometimes when you have these moments you need somebody or something to blame but we have to stick together and keep working.”
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