Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has opted to step in to offer Chelsea some pointers on how to handle Graham Potter’s tenure at the club.<\/p>\n
The former Brighton manager succeeded Thomas Tuchel as Chelsea’s head coach in September, after the German was sacked following a slow start to the season, despite a fabulous showing in the previous campaign.<\/p>\n
47-year-old Potter had done well to earn an impressive reputation as an up and coming coach with a knack for developing young players during his time at Brighton, and the hope was that that his tactical nous and understanding of the game can help usher Chelsea into a new era under new American co-owner Todd Boehly.<\/p>\n
Potter’s tactics have now worked out according to expectations and have already been criticised by some \u2013 primarily his decisions to play Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic as attacking wing-backs \u2013 but Guardiola\u00a0has moved to defend his managerial counterpart by offering Chelsea some advice, ahead of the pair’s clash in the Carabao Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Chelsea\u00a0accept my humble advice, give him time and he will do well,\u201d Guardiola said. \u201cThey got good results but the way they play, when I saw the game against Brighton that they lost, I saw many things I remember from his period in Brighton. But he needs time, everybody needs time.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one has success from day one or two, I have a lot of admiration for his work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat he did at Brighton was beyond exceptional and I\u2019m pretty sure with time he will do a good job, I don\u2019t have any doubts.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is one of the best managers from my point of view, we have in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n
There’s expected to be widespread changes made to both sides for their meeting at the Etihad Stadium, with a number of senior players hoping to maintain their fitness ahead of the World Cup\u00a0in Qatar.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"