With Chelsea now out of the Champions League and languishing at eleventh in the league, the blues find themselves with nothing to play for as we approach the end of the football season. Sacking manager Graham Potter was a big call to make for Todd Bohely. We caught up with Liverpool icon John Barnes who shared his thoughts on the sacking of Potter, the hiring of Frank Lampard and the future of forward Joao Felix.
Chelsea should have stuck by Potter says Barnes
The start of the month saw Chelsea sever ties and the five year contract of manager Graham Potter. Since then results haven’t improved for the blues despite the hiring of former midfielder and manager Frank Lampard. Chelsea haven’t won a game since sacking Potter and haven’t won in four since hiring Lampard. Barnes says that despite the terrible run of results under Potter, Chelsea should have stuck by the former Swansea and Brighton manager.
“I always hate when managers are going to be sacked because they should be given opportunities. But that’s what Chelsea does.”
“It’s a tough situation for them because a manager probably wouldn’t be happy with joining them in the middle of the season and because of that they had to hire Frank Lampard as the caretaker.”
“I think they should have stuck with Potter and I don’t know what manager would want to go to Chelsea now? I don’t think they necessarily could get anyone better than Lampard.”
“But for someone just to be there for the end of the season and take care of the harmony at the club, I don’t think they could have got a better manager than Lampard.”
Felix needs a striker to flourish
Potter would have had huge hopes that the loan signing of Portuguese forward Joao Felix would have helped transform the fortunes of the blues. Felix The Portuguese star moved to Stamford Bridge on a six-month deal, with Chelsea paying an €11 million loan fee. They had also agreed to cover 100% of his wages. Whilst Felix has played relatively well, Chelsea have continued to struggle scoring goals and defend effectively. Barnes suggests that Felix would benefit from playing alongside a natural scoring striker instead of being the leading man himself. Therefore, Barnes believes that Felix has a place in the current Chelsea side, but not in the role of the primary scorer.
“Well, I think that Joao Felix has played well for Chelsea. He hasn’t scored a lot of goals but he has been very creative and has had a lot of shots.”
“He has probably been their best player in terms of creativity and creating chances.”
“But Chelsea needs a centre forward. They are playing okay but they are lacking a player that can score the goals.”
“I think it would be a good solution to sign Felix and a centre forward.”
“Joao Felix is good and he is young but I think he is a type of player that needs to play with a centre forward.”
