Chelsea manager Graham Potter made his first outing as the manager of the club against RB Salzburg in the Champions League fixture.
The Blues just managed to win a point after being held draw 1-1 to Salzburg in their second match in the UCL. There was a lot of buzz surrounding the debut match as a manager for Potter but it ended bitterly.
However, in the match, a noticeable change was Raheem Sterling being deployed as a wing-back position. The position is usually taken up by Marc Cucurella or Ben Chilwell but the gaffer explains why he played Sterling.
Chelsea manager explains his decision
The Chelsea manager played the new summer signing by Chelsea in the unusual wing-back position during the match. It was expected that the new gaffer in town would bring about a few changes within the squad.
However, playing Sterling as a wing-back which is not the forward’s natural position was new to the club. Speaking in an interview after the match, Potter cleared the air as to why Sterling played as the wing-back.
He said-
It was a back three as far as I was concerned with Reece and Raheem giving us the width. We wanted to get some dangerous width, and Reece and Raheem were that.
Raheem is really good at attacking a backline and scored a fantastic goal. I thought he was really good in the game.
Moreover, playing Sterling in the new position was new for Chelsea, and the former Manchester City player scored a goal. However, a few moments later Salzburg ended up getting one in the back of the net to manage a draw.
Though Chelsea have started off slow, Potter is expected to bring the club’s position back to a competitive level.
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