Graham Potter has opened up about the “humiliation” he felt after being sacked by Chelsea, describing his short tenure at the club as a “perfect storm” of challenges. Appointed in September 2022 to replace Thomas Tuchel, the 49-year-old manager arrived from Brighton along with his coaching staff in a move that cost Chelsea £21.5 million. However, just seven months later, he was dismissed with the team languishing in 11th place in the Premier League following a defeat to Aston Villa.

In a candid interview with The Telegraph, Potter suggested that the problems at Chelsea began with an overwhelming fixture schedule, exacerbated by the mid-season World Cup in Qatar. “It was almost like the perfect storm,” he said, explaining how the relentless run of 14 matches in six weeks before the World Cup left him and his staff feeling like they were “in the washing machine” with no time for proper preparation.

The situation was further complicated by injuries to key players. “We lost Reece [James] and Wesley [Fofana] to injury,” Potter noted. The disruption caused by the World Cup also played a role, as Chelsea had more players in Qatar than any other club. This was followed by additional setbacks with Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic suffering injuries shortly after the tournament.

While Potter did not oversee a summer transfer window at Chelsea, he was present during a record-breaking January window where the club spent £323 million. Signings like Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk, and Noni Madueke arrived, raising expectations to almost unmanageable levels. “The ownership decided to invest a lot of money in the squad, £300 million in the January transfer window,” Potter said. He cautioned that these new signings, many coming from outside the Premier League and mid-season breaks, would need time to adapt. “You can’t just imagine they are going to hit the ground running and everything’s going to be fine,” he added.

Potter acknowledged that the significant spending created immense pressure on both the team and himself. “If you spend £300 million, the pressure on the team goes up and the pressure on the coach goes up,” he reflected. “People go: ‘Come on then, you’ve spent all this money.’” He hinted that if the funds had been used on established Premier League stars like Harry Kane or Declan Rice, the expectations might have been different, but the decision was made otherwise.

Another challenge Potter faced was managing a bloated squad, which impacted daily operations such as team meetings. “A few of them just had to sit on the floor. It’s not ideal, of course,” he admitted.

Since his departure from Chelsea 17 months ago, Potter has been out of work but has received multiple offers from clubs in England and across Europe. Describing the experience as a “grieving process,” he has been working on finding the right balance between self-reflection and acknowledging the external factors at play. “You have to try not to beat yourself up, but you can’t just blame everything on somebody else,” Potter remarked. “There’s a humiliation that it doesn’t go well. I was sacked after seven months of a five-year contract after being taken from Brighton, so there’s all that on a human level you have to deal with.”

Potter’s reflections paint a picture of a turbulent period where high expectations, a relentless schedule, and squad upheavals combined to create an almost unmanageable scenario.