Cesar Azpilicueta has revealed what Graham Potter has demanded from the Chelsea squad following his appointment as head coach.
The 47-year-old’s first game in charge ended in a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night at Stamford Bridge against FC Salzburg, leaving them in a precarious position in Group E in the Champions League.
Chelsea needed a win against the Austrian side, but a draw - their first point of the 2022/23 European campaign - leaves them bottom of the group after two matches.
It will take time for Potter to ingrain his methods into his new players after having only a few days to work with them since being appointed last Thursday.
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Little details are costing Chelsea - not finishing their chances, while making costly errors defensively.
Chelsea now have two weeks off for the international break after their Premier League game against Liverpool was postponed ahead of the Queen’s funeral on Monday.
Once they return, they will have 13 games before the World Cup break, including the rest of their Champions League group games, two against AC Milan, both of which Chelsea will need to get results in if they want to put themselves in a healthy position to progress.
Potter has been praised for his approach since arriving at Cobham. Club captain Cesar Azpilicueta highlighted the flexibility Potter wants the team to have, but has revealed the 47-year-old’s demands to get better individually with their ‘a big room for improvement needed’.
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Following the 1-1 draw to FC Salzburg, Azpilicueta told the official Chelsea website: “I think we are quite flexible in terms of system and position of players and that is the way the manager believed that we could hurt them and be stronger as a team and we work on that.
“Of course we are disappointed with the result but I think there are as well a lot of positives to take.
"We will keep working hard now we have an international break and we then have a run coming with a lot of games every three days, and we have to be ready for it.
“The manager has made very clear what he wanted from the players individually and as a team and we have to keep working.
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"We know that we can do better, we have a big room for improvement, we need to keep sticking together and working hard and hopefully the results will arrive.”
Azpilicueta concluded: "After losing the first game (against Dinamo Zagreb) we were in a tough position and now it is a bit worse.
"But it is still in our hands and now we work hard and with a change of manager of course, we try to adapt as quickly as possible to get ideas and to affect them on the pitch.
"We play two games in a row against Milan and we have to be at our best level if we want to get the results and to go into the next stage."
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Cesar Azpilicueta, Chelsea, Graham Potter, Football
