Interim Chelsea head coach Bruno Saltar believes Graham Potter did an amazing job at the club despite his dismissal.
The Blues cut ties with Potter on Sunday following a defeat to Aston Villa that saw the club drop into the bottom half of the Premier League standings.
Potter s departure came fewer than seven months after his appointment at Stamford Bridge, where he succeeded Champions League winning coach Thomas Tuchel, and on the back of a vast spending spree in the January window.
Inability to get the best out of Chelsea s array of recruits, with a lack of goals a major issue, ultimately led to Potter s exit.
Despite all of that, Potter did an impressive job in west London in the eyes of Bruno.
I m here right now because Graham and the club thought that was the right step, I m here to just try to help the club and be the most professional I can, he said at a pre-match press conference.
I m just trying to keep the process going, to collaborate the best that we can. I think Graham did an amazing job. Football is a really complex business and we have to keep going.
It s been really difficult at every single level, you have to deal with the press conference, you have to deal with the players. It s difficult to deal with it, it s been a really difficult 12 hours.
-7.4 Chelsea underperformed their xG by 7.4 during Graham Potter s Premier League reign, the worst differential of any side since his first game in charge (21 goals from 28.4 xG).
-7.4 | Chelsea
-6.7 | West Ham
-6.1 | Everton
-5.8 | Southampton
-5.3 | Forest
Familiar.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
Bruno faces a baptism of fire at Stamford Bridge, with his first game coming against top-four chasing Liverpool, and he expressed his admiration for opposing boss Jurgen Klopp.
We have to see it as an opportunity for the players. We re representing Chelsea, a club with amazing history, who are about winning, about dominating, he added.
We need to prepare for the game, preparation helps a lot with performance. That s what players need to focus on.
Obviously I have pure admiration towards Jurgen. I can t say anything other than what everyone knows. They re going through a tough season as well, but have top players.
We re expecting a tough game, that s aggressive because they have high intensity players.
