Sterling struggles 'more of a team thing', says Chelsea coach Potter

By Sports Desk October 24, 2022

Chelsea head coach Graham Potter believes his team as a whole must "do better" in attack following Saturday's drab draw with Manchester United.

The Blues had just six attempts and two on target in a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, their goal coming from the penalty spot through Jorginho.

Raheem Sterling was quiet again as he waits on a first career goal against United. He has a sole goal involvement in his past six Chelsea matches in all competitions and none in his past four.

Speaking ahead of the midweek Champions League meeting with Salzburg, Potter deflected blame from Sterling, calling on the entire team to improve going forward.

"I think it's more of a team thing. We have to try to do better as a team, improve our attacking play as a team, and then individuals can do better," he said.

"I always want to look at how the team functions, and there is a lot of improvement possible in that area, and that will help Raheem."

Potter was asked what needed to change for Chelsea, but he pointed to the absence of key players.

"It's a simple question to ask but quite a complex one to answer," he replied. "There's lots of things, we've had a couple of issues, losing Reece [James], [Kalidou] Koulibaly and Wesley [Fofana] in terms of stability.

"On the back of away matches in the Champions League, there have been tough places to go, so it's a combination of finding balance, a bit of a process in terms of not too much training time between the games; I think we've played seven games in the last three weeks.

"When players are coming out, to find that stability and the structure is a bit more complex, so that's been a bit of a challenge."

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