It was a miserable return to Brighton for Chelsea manager Graham Potter (Picture: Getty)
Martin Keown has accused Chelsea manager Graham Potter of ‘trying to be too clever’ after Chelsea were thrashed by Brighton on Saturday.
Potter’s impressive unbeaten start to his tenure came to a resounding end on familiar turf as the Blues were hammered 4-1 by his former side.
The Seagulls raced into a three goal lead and although Chelsea threatened a comeback when Kai Havertz reduced the deficit three minutes after the restart, the home team held on and restored their three goal lead in injury time.
It was a miserable return to the Amex for Potter who spent three years on the south coast turning Brighton into a genuine Premier League force to be reckoned with.
Injuries have forced Potter to shuffle his pack on numerous occasions since replacing Thomas Tuchel but Keown believes he is overcomplicating matters with his near constant tinkering.
‘Chelsea looked unrecognisable at the back. I think there were too many changes,’ former Arsenal defender told the BBC.
‘It counts against you in this situation because you are trying to formulate partnership and it’s always changing at the back. It was a different back three today.
Brighton romped to a 4-1 win over Chelsea on Saturday (Picture: Getty)
‘They are wing-backs that aren’t wing-backs. They played Raheem Sterling in a wing-back position today and I don’t think it suited in the way they played.
‘Maybe Graham Potter was trying to be too clever. Keep it the same and football is a simple game.’
Asked if would continue to make regular alterations to his team and tactics in his post match press conference, Potter cited the absence of key personal for having to rotate at this early stage of his Chelsea reign.
He said: ‘It’s not about change. You need to find a way to win and perform. We’ve had a lot of games in October and an incredible schedule.
‘So for different reasons, we’ve lost key players in terms of Reece [James], [Kalidou] Koulibaly, [Wesley] Fofana and [N’Golo] Kante. So there is a constant challenge in how to set up.
‘We tried today, and again, it can be tactical, or it can be the intensity, and the opponent do what they do better. I have to analyse the game and look at how I can improve.’
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Not the return to the Amex the Chelsea boss was hoping for.