Graham Potter’s era at Stamford Bridge has officially begun and the 47-year-old has described the whole situation prior and following the signing as a ‘whirlwind’ experience and offer ‘too big to turn down’.As per the Englishman, the talks progressed quickly when Chelsea approached him; he was impressed by the vision of the owners and did not need much convincing to take the job.’Things happened incredibly quickly,’ he told reporters.’I had some really intense conversations with the owners and quickly I realised that they were good people, intelligent people that had made a huge success of their life outside of football and wanted to achieve something here. (They had) a really exciting project, really exciting ideas about how to take the club forward, and it felt really, really positive.’I’m not going to lie, it’s been a whirlwind in terms of getting to know people, leaving Brighton, learning about the players. My first impressions have been really good, and I’m really looking forward to starting.’Can Los Blancos continue their Benzema-less positive streak?During his three years at the Amex Stadium, Potter thrived at Brighton. Even so, he is aware that this new challenge is at a whole other level since at Chelsea he will be expected to compete for silverware. ‘I’ve taken careful steps with my career, I haven’t just jumped at the first opportunity.’I’ve tried to understand what was involved and whether it was the right time for me to take the next challenge, but I think that’s what life is. Life’s about going outside of your comfort zone. ‘I don’t see it as a risk in a negative way, but I think everything is a bit unknown and that’s the beauty of life,’ he added.Graham Potter says the discussions with Chelsea owners have been ‘really positive’ as he looks forward to his first game as manager of the club.pic.twitter.com/4Fu6G0npNQ— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) September 13, 2022 The Blues take on Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League on Wednesday evening – which will be Potter’s first game in charge at Chelsea.Potter has never even been to a Champions League match as a fan, let alone managed in the competition.’Off the top of my head, I don’t think I have been to a Champions League game. ‘I think it’s a good time to go in the dugout, why not!? Wherever we start it’s a heck of an introduction. Wherever we start is going to be brilliant, and why not start here?’With just Edouard Mendy and N’Golo Kante missing, Potter has confirmed that he will have almost a fully fit squad to choose from for his opening game.’Eddie (Mendy) will miss the game, NG (N’Golo Kante) too. Apart from that, everyone else is fine,’ he said.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Potter’s vice-captain Jorginho was alongside his new manager at the press conference and he shared his view of the whole situation.When asked for his first impressions of Potter on the training ground, the Brazilian with the Italian passport had only words of praise.’He’s a humble coach but with a good way to work. I think he has this challenge and I believe he is going to do very well because he has good ideas and a group of players ready to try to do the best we can and listen to what he wants.’I think it’s a good combination for good results.’We need to work a lot in meetings and seeing what the new manager will bring to us and understand as quickly as possible what he wants from us on the pitch. ‘He has done very well, asking us what we feel comfortable with, and that’s the way we need to keep going. ‘Now, there is a lot new information and we need to try to understand that and help each other.’The conference couldn’t have gone without questions about Tuchel. The German coach was fired in the wake of Chelsea’s surprise Champions League defeat to Dinamo Zagreb last Tuesday with Potter quickly appointed as his replacement.”We appreciate everything” 🙌Jorginho has a lot of praise for Tuchel and new boss Potter 💪 pic.twitter.com/rJDNcAwuGU— Chelsea FC News (@Chelsea_FL) September 13, 2022 The 30-year-old midfielder said the squad must admit at least partial responsibility for Tuchel’s departure following a poor start to the season.’Of course, we’re a team. So it’s not one person responsible for what happened,”We are a team and a group on the pitch. Of course, it’s our responsibility what happened.”We tried to do what we could and where it could go better.’Unfortunately, it was working and the challenge now is to rebuild confidence.’It was a surprise for us. There is always talking about what happened but now we have games coming and life is quick, so we don’t have much time to stay here thinking.’We talk and then we need to concentrate on what we do.’ said Jorginho.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – ROUND 2Tuesday19:45: (8.00) Plzen (4.50) Inter (1.42)19:45: (3.60) Sporting (3.45) Tottenham (2.05)22:00: (1.55) Liverpool (4.40) Ajax (6.50)22:00: (3.15) Leverkusen (3.30) Atl.Madrid (2.45)22:00: (1.45) Porto (4.50) Club Brugge (8.50)22:00: (1.80) Bayern (4.00) Barcelona (4.50)22:00: (2.00) Olympique Marseille (3.60) Eintr.Frankfurt (4.00)Wednesday19:45: (1.37) Milan (5.10) Dinamo Zagreb (10.0)19:45: (3.25) Shakhtar (3.40) Celtic (2.35)22:00: (1.40) Chelsea (4.80) Salzburg (7.75)22:00: (1.48) Real Madrid (4.40) RB Leipzig (6.75)22:00: (3.60) Copenhagen (3.40) Sevilla (2.20)22:00: (1.25) Man.City (7.00) Dortmund (12.0)22:00: (2.10) Juventus (3.50) Benfica (3.80)22:00: (16.0) Maccabi Haifa (9.50) PSG (1.13)22:00: (4.60) Rangers (3.70) Napoli (1.85)***odds are subject to change***
