Football: Potter sees positives in Chelsea’s draw with West Ham

LONDON – Despite being held to a 1-1 Premier League draw at West Ham United on Saturday, Chelsea manager Graham Potter used the word “positives” three times when asked to describe his side’s performance.

The Blues’ winless run in the league extended to three games when on-loan Portuguese forward Joao Felix’s first goal for the club was cancelled out by West Ham defender Emerson Palmieri at the London Stadium.

Potter’s expensively assembled team once again failed to live up to their price tags as the pressure mounted on the 47-year-old, but he was not too bothered by the result.

“I think you could see positives in the performances for us, especially in the first half. It was a step forward for us and lots to go forward with,” he said on BT Sport.

“We are in a process where we are getting guys up to speed, to match minutes so the ability to sustain what we want to do is the challenge for us, but there were positives in the game.

“These are the little things you need to go in your favour and, at the moment, they are not, so that’s life. There is nothing to complain about. We have to keep working.

“There were positives today and some good attacking moment from players adapting to the Premier League. We will get better from the experience.”

Ninth-placed Chelsea have won just one of their past eight games in all competitions and are now without a win in their last seven away league games.

The club splashed out more than £300 million (S$481 million)

on new signings during the January transfer window

and, although Potter insists he is aware of the pressure to get Chelsea back on track, he has been unable to stop the rot and is certain to face further scrutiny about his position.

The Blues face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last-16 first leg on Wednesday and he desperately needs to steer his team through to the quarter-finals to earn some breathing space.

It all started well for him on Saturday when Felix put Chelsea ahead in the 16th minute in his second appearance for the club, only for Emerson to haunt his former team with an equaliser 12 minutes later.

Chelsea’s goal was entirely constructed by their new recruits, with Mykhailo Mudryk snapping into a tackle on Jarrod Bowen before Enzo Fernandez curled his cross towards Felix, whose well-timed run beat West Ham’s offside trap as he volleyed home from six yards.

The Blues had looked to boss the first half but lost their focus and the lead slipped from their grasp after 28 minutes.

It was a sloppy goal for them to concede as Vladimir Coufal was given too much time for a cross that was nodded on by Bowen to Emerson, who was left unmarked to score at the far post.

Potter’s men struggled to find any rhythm in the second half and West Ham thought they had won it with eight minutes left when Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga pushed Declan Rice’s header to Tomas Soucek, but the midfielder’s tap-in was disallowed for offside against Rice.

The Blues also had a chance when Conor Gallagher’s shot hit Soucek’s arm in stoppage time but the video assistant referee refused to give the penalty.

“Pleased with the point, in the first 20 minutes we got blown away, we made some really poor defensive decisions but we grew into it,” said West Ham manager David Moyes.

“We played much better in the second half, the players gave everything they can.”

When asked about the penalty controversy, he added: “I’ve not seen that. I’ve not seen the decision when the (Soucek’s) goal was chalked off either.

“I was hoping it was going to be our day but we had a couple of close calls as well. We take the point and it keeps a bit of a better run going right now.” AFP