Graham Potter Brighton
What are your thoughts on the match and what changed in the second half that enabled Nottingham Forest back into the game?
“Overall, when the game was controlled in the first half, I don’t think we did well enough. It certainly wasn’t good enough I would say: we didn’t move the ball fast enough, didn’t have enough moments. I think we have to credit the opponent in both halves. In the first, they defended deeper and attacked big spaces. In the second, it became a bit more uncontrolled and we suffered as well. They played a good version of themselves and I think in the end, even though we had a chance with Pierre [Emerick-Aubameyang] and rallied in the second part of the second half, it would’ve been unfair if we’d taken more than a point.”
Why do you think it was more uncontrolled in the second half?
“Their approach changes a little bit more. They played better and positively in terms of getting more men forward and using their forwards well. I think they are dangerous and if you look at the recent results they’ve had here, they make teams suffer and we had to suffer today for sure. That first period of the second half was tough for us and we had to wrestle some control back I think we did that with the substitutions. Then we had a chance with Pierre but over the course of the game – when you understand the responsibility we have to do better – we could have done better.”
Did the atmosphere impact the players, much like the Brighton game and the Leeds game before you took charge?
“I don’t think it’s this team, I think it’s generally. You have to credit Nottingham Forest. They are here for the first time in a lot of years, so they are celebrating everything, and rightly so. While we have our advantages, they use their advantages, which is the environment here and that is absolutely fine. We have to deal with that and we didn’t do it as well as we’d like. We controlled it in the first half but in the second half, we didn’t do well enough. It’s hard to do that in the Premier League anyway and that is why I was a little disappointed at half time because I thought we could’ve done more with the ball ourselves.”
Is there a concern that this is a common theme, that Chelsea away from home can be bullied?
“I think we stood up today. The effort was there. We played a draw against Brentford, you have to stand up there because it’s not an easy place to go. Aston Villa we won. Crystal Palace we won. Brighton wasn’t a good game for us at all and obviously, it was a completely different environment again. But that’s the Premier League for you. Away from home, teams are not going to make it easy for you. On the one hand, you’ve got players asking for shirts [after the game] and on the other, they are ready to ready to run through a brick wall before the game to prove they can be good enough to beat or play for Chelsea. That is how it is. With that comes responsibility for us and we have to be humble enough to know that is the challenge we face. We have to do better.”
Is the January window unsettling with players potentially coming and going out of the squad?
“It’s part of the season we all have to deal with, so I’m not complaining about it. They are human beings and while the window is open, there is noise and 24-hour media that has to be filled with something. The January window gives people an opportunity to speak about things, so it’s normal. It’s part of modern-day football and we have to deal with it.”
