Graham Potter's "long-term project" at Chelsea ended on Sunday night when the club decided to fire the former Brighton manager. The project didn't even survive seven months.
The Blues' home loss to Aston Villa was the tipping point, and with nine games left, the west London team dropped into the bottom half of the Premier League standings.
The Champions League is their only chance to salvage a miserable 2022–23 season, but the holders Real Madrid await them with a daunting two-legged matchup.
Even though there have already been numerous links to Julian Nagelsmann, reports claim Chelsea will not rush to appoint Potter's replacement. Instead, former Brighton defender Bruno Saltor will serve as the team's interim manager until the end of the current campaign.
The Spaniard's first assignment comes quickly on Tuesday night when a defeated Liverpool team visits Stamford Bridge. Here is how Chelsea might set up in their opening match following Potter's departure.
Kepa, James, Koulibaly, Badiashile, Loftus-Cheek, Fernandez, Kovacic, Chilwell, Mount, Havertz, and Felix make up a potential 3-4-3 starting lineup.
Despite having the luxury of wealth, Potter found it difficult to come up with the right combination of personnel and structure. Throughout his career, he alternated between a back three and a four, although neither strategy was consistently successful.
Given the short turnaround from Saturday's game, Bruno will probably stick with the 3-4-3 Chelsea has been using recently. There should be staff changes, though. Benoit Badiashile must unquestionably start on the left side of the defense, and Raheem Sterling or Mason Mount might take Mykhaylo Mudryk's position in the starting lineup.
N'Golo Kante is back in the mix, but he probably wouldn't start in a midfield with just two players. Chelsea's recent issues haven't really been with Mateo Kovacic or Enzo Fernandez.
Kepa, James, Koulibaly, Badiashile, Chilwell, Fernandez, Kovacic, Mount, Sterling, Havertz, and Felix make up a potential 4-3-3 starting lineup.
Potter briefly employed a 4-3-3 after Christmas, but Bruno will have trouble implementing it because Chelsea currently don't have a good holding midfielder. The closest they currently have is Enzo, but the Argentine lacks the defensive awareness necessary to fulfill the role of the sole pivot.
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