Graham Potter refused to comment on the prospect of Christopher Vivell becoming Chelsea’s technical director following his departure from RB Leipzig but did note that he hoped that whoever fulfilled the role can connect the club. Potter has worked with similar figures in the past in the likes of Dan Ashworth, and believes the role can offer support to his position. However, the 47-year-old head coach sees it as more crucial for the running of the club overall. On Friday, speaking ahead of their Premier League game with Wolves at the weekend,
Graham Potter said: “In terms of the bigger picture of the role specifically. I’ve always had good relationships with technical directors, sporting directors. It’s more of a strategic one for the club in terms of aligning everything in terms of the resources you have, making sure that fits well. I think normally it’s a source of support for the head coach, it can be a source of support and opinion. Mostly it’s there just to connect the club I think. The head coach’s main responsibility is the first team, of course and results of the first team. To have someone there that connects the club and ensures strategically we’re on the right path, it’s an important role.”
Aligning the club at all levels and ensuring efficiency and communication has been a priority since Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over the club earlier in the year. The ethos that the new owners hoped to implement ultimately saw part of the reasoning that Potter replaced Thomas Tuchel. Boehly, speaking at the SALT conference in New York last month,
Todd Boehly said: “When you take over any business, you have to make sure you’re aligned with the people who are operating the business. [Thomas] Tuchel is obviously extremely talented and someone who had great success at Chelsea. Our vision for the club was to find a manager who really wanted to collaborate with us, a coach who really wanted to collaborate. There are a lot of walls to break down at Chelsea. Before [we arrived], the first team and academy didn’t really share data, didn’t share information about where the top players were coming from. Our goal is to bring a team together; all of that needs to be a well-oiled machine.”
Boehly has been a visible presence over the course of the season, and was at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea’s win over AC Milan in the Champions League. The American, alongside fellow owner, Jonathan Goldstein took in the Blues’ training session on Friday, with Boehly set to meet Potter to continue their communication.
Graham Potter explained: “He’s not in goal or anything in five-a-side. He just stands on the side and watches and I had a quick chat with him afterwards. I’m going to have catch up with him this afternoon. So it’s nice to see him and he’s very supportive and the lads like to see him.”
