Graham Potter was an animated figure on the touchline as Chelsea beat Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday evening and he has now opened up on a more positive feeling following the Champions League victory
Graham Potter has explained how “working with perspective” is crucial in order to be successful as Chelsea head coach.
Potter is under pressure as Blues boss but that has perhaps been eased in the last week after his side secured back-to-back wins against Leeds United and then Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. Tuesday’s victory against Dortmund, in particular, was very impressive as Chelsea overturned a one-goal deficit from the first-leg to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the competition.
“I am the same as every Chelsea fan; it’s always better if you win,” Potter said. “On the one hand you get criticised for showing no emotion and then when you say it is harder when you lose it becomes a real story. It’s really difficult to just play a game of football at whatever level and just come home and everything is fine.
“That’s not to say I am a disaster zone around the family. My kids are my kids and I am very privileged and fortunate to do the job I do and am very lucky.
“It’s not that but clearly when you are in a job where results aren’t going the way you want it becomes more difficult than when you are winning. But that’s part of football, part of life, you have to work with a perspective a lot.
“We are in this to compete and the whole point of everything is to win. That’s not to say you can do it all time but life is absolutely better when you win. That’s a fact. I’d be amazed if someone said my life is better when we lose.
“You have to see the defeats sometimes as a chance to improve and the tough times and bad times are a chance for you to grow as a person, as a club, and a team. But at the same time winning is better than losing.”
“Reece has been ill, he hasn’t trained today, so he won’t make the game,” the Chelsea head coach told reporters at Cobham on Friday. “Raheem has a feeling in his hamstring, more tight than anything, so he’s a doubt. Aubameyang has a slight problem with his back, so he won’t make it. Apart from that, everyone is okay.”
Potter added on Kante: “No, he won’t [be in the squad]. He still needs more time.