A KEY factor in Thomas Tuchel’s sacking at Chelsea was the frustration brewing within the squad and a disconnect between the academy and first team.
After the youth revolution under Frank Lampard his successor turned to older stars brought in for huge fees, some of which were pushed to the fringe.
After a staggering summer outlay of £259.1million, Chelsea owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali will want to see every penny squeezed out of the squad by Graham Potter.
SunSport runs through the stars and academy aces who could thrive or be revived by the English manager…
CHRISTIAN PULISIC
The winger has been hit and miss since his move from Borussia Dortmund in 2019.
Captain America has hit fine form in patches but struggled with injury and lacked consistent game time.
After grumbles about playing time and mulling over a potential loan move, the 23-year-old will hope he can establish himself under the new manager just in time for the World Cup.
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TREVOH CHALOBAH
Chalobah fell slightly out of favour towards the end of last season and has made just one Premier League start so far this term.
Tuchel and Boehly made the decision to fork out a staggering £70million to land Wesley Fofana from Leicester City rather than trust Chalobah at the heart of defence.
Incoming Potter has a fine record of moulding young defenders, having turned Brighton academy graduate Ben White into an England international and £50million centre-half.
He could well do the same with Chalobah.
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CONOR GALLAGHER
Following a stunning season on loan at Crystal Palace, it has been a shaky start to life back at the Bridge.
Tuchel had always been an admirer of Gallagher but the England midfielder struggled on his first Premier League start in a 3-0 defeat at Leeds United and was sent off after just 28 minutes in his next outing against Leicester City.
The 22-year-old, who scooped both of Palace’s Player of the Year gongs last season will hope for a clean start under Potter.
HAKIM ZIYECH
The winger with a wand of a left foot had been well and truly pushed to the fringes under Tuchel towards the end of last season and almost returned to Ajax over the summer.
There is no doubting the quality the Moroccan can offer but consistency has been an issue.
Given the prevalence of clever, technical players in Potter’s Brighton side, Ziyech should be encouraged by the change in the dugout.
ROMELU LUKAKU
One of Tuchel’s biggest problems last season.
The near £100million man, Chelsea’s record signing, who he simply could not accommodate.
A significant issue for Tuchel over the past year has been creating chances for his centre-forwards.
The German refused to bend his system to help Lukaku thrived and insisted on the Belgian learning to play his way.
Both were stubborn and neither would adapt – which resulted in Lukaku returning to Inter Milan on loan.
Potter’s Brighton have never struggled with creating chances – putting them away has been their problem.
Should Lukaku be given another chance at the Bridge, you would think he will have plenty to feed off.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
