Honeymoon period over for Graham Potter who must now mould Chelsea into his own image

Graham Potter’s honeymoon period is over at Chelsea and the defeat to his former side Brighton and Hove Albion has highlighted problems that were papered over by individual brilliance or opposition wastefulness.

At the Amex, he tried to change things just like he did against Manchester United, when his midfield was getting over-run, but the Brighton players know him like no other team and they respond to every tweak he made.

Chelsea were outplayed by Brentford and were lucky to walk away with a point. It took Conor Gallagher’s drop of the shoulder last minute to get three points at Selhurst and combination of Kepa, poor finishing and Potter’s humble admission of getting his system wrong to rescue a point.

The former Ostersunds manager will know from the mood from the club’s fanbase on social media that they are yet to fully accept him despite his nine game unbeaten streak.

Here is what he has to do quickly to stamp his authority and get Chelsea back to winning titles.

Stop trying to please everyone

One of the first observations from Graham Potter’s early days at Chelsea is that he is the complete opposite of his predecessor Thomas Tuchel. Tuchel publicly threw his toys out of the prams when a player lost the ball in a dangerous situation. This tendency did not sit well with the players and there was a feeling within  the playing body that he did mostly to some and never touched those he liked.

But Potter is different, the smallest amount of effort is met with an applause from the touchline and even though it’s nice and psychology says people are lifted when they are encouraged, some players also respond well to being publicly admonished and a fine line should be struck. The conversations around the first team is that he is trying too much to be liked, which can be a problem for a manager.

Strikers not firing

This problem will ultimately define Potter’s time at the club. At Brighton his team played above themselves but there was a general feeling that they did not score much which ultimately turned so many wins into draws. For a team that should be challenging if not winning the Premier League, there must be goals in the team.

Potter’s Swansea team also had goal scoring problems, and even though he over achieved by leading them to a 10th place finish in the Championship, their chance creation rivalled top six sides in the league.

There is a hint that because his systems are so fluid and require every player to help in build up and defence, the strikers arrive in the box tired or late which is sometimes the difference between scoring and missing.

The early days Chelsea suggest that he is trying to find what works. We’ve seen players like Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic being tried at wing-back, while Aubameyang started brightly but has since failed to set the stage alight. Chelsea strikers need goals to be happy and when they are not scoring there are problems.

Change the dressing room culture

The Chelsea dressing room is one of the most diverse in the world and it’s packed with egos and players at the top of their game. No player at Chelsea will be happy sitting on the bench, but the best way to go about the culture is rewarding hard work fairly. Hakim Ziyech has barely had a chance to impress so has Denis Zakaria, but Sterling has continued to be in the team despite not scoring in his last eight games.

There comes a time when those behind the door feel like they should also be given a chance, and that will send a message to the other players to sit up in the face of competition.

Plan for January with diligence

This Chelsea team is still not Potter’s as he’s made no signings. He needs loyalty from the playing body and that mostly comes from players he has bought.

He’s lucky to be reunited with Marc Cucurella, someone who played his best football under him, but that wasn’t his signing and he will truly be able to get this team looking like his team if he can bring in players who will run through a brick wall for him.