Chelsea fans have turned on their manager Graham Potter following the team’s 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa, which saw them drop to 11th in the Premier League table. Despite recent victories against Leeds, Leicester, and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, Chelsea’s performance against Villa was described as “miserable” and “embarrassing”. After John McGinn scored the second goal for the visitors, fans chanted “you don’t know what you’re doing” at Potter, and the team was booed off the pitch at full-time.
Thiago Silva’s wife Isabelle also expressed her disappointment with Chelsea’s current situation, tweeting: “I look at the table and we are in eleventh place, very sad… let’s get ready for Tuesday.” While there have been signs of discontent among fans during Potter’s tenure, this defeat was seen as a clear turning point for many supporters.
Despite dominating possession with nearly 70% of the ball and taking 26 shots, Chelsea were unable to score against Villa. Emiliano Martinez, the Villa goalkeeper, was never really in danger, and the team was content to sit back and soak up pressure before hitting on the counter-attack. Ollie Watkins scored the first goal for Villa after Marc Cucurella headed the ball back towards his own goal, putting Watkins through on goal. Mykhailo Mudryk also missed a golden opportunity to score for Chelsea when his weak shot was easily saved by Martinez.
Chelsea will face Liverpool next in the Premier League, and the pressure will only increase on Potter if they fail to win again. Liverpool themselves have had a difficult season so far and were thrashed 4-1 by Manchester City earlier on Saturday.