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Just think if Thomas Tuchel saw his old flame with a new mistress. Plenty of possessions, an elegant build-up, plenty of width, but shots and goals reflect it all? He’s been doing it for months at Stamford Bridge.

And Graham Potter’s first match was a slam dunk, as Tuchel’s final act had enough of a late barrage of shots to save the day when Chelsea couldn’t make hay when the sun shone. Rather ended. A 1–1 draw at home with Red Bull Salzburg following a loss at Dynamo Zagreb. It will be some time before the new manager thinks he can match his predecessor’s Champions League first year success, and for now he will have to consider exiting the group. .

To do so, he will have to address the issues that plagued Tuchel from the first days of the Chelsea regime to its demise. Against all the stars Chelsea can deploy in attack, they work very hard to get a good shot on goal. The home side had more than Salzburg’s three shots on target. In the first half, the hosts completed more than three times his passes for the Austrian side, and Reese’s attacking touches in his third were more than his 54 in Salzburg, with Reese only James and Raheem in his sterling. less times. 0.55 expected goal (xG).

70% on the ball and 1.01 xG on the final whistle were modest but familiar returns. Mason Mount has yet to score a goal this season, but it is worth noting that he seemed very comfortable with the defensive requirements placed on him in the deeper role. Kai Havertz seems to have all the talent in the world, but he needs the most perfectly polished system to harness it. Perhaps most concerningly, Pierre-Emerick only seemed to lag behind when Aubameyang took the place of Armando his Brodjat.

Still, all managers are allowed blips early in their term. In the end, Tuchel started off with the fallout of Mount, the most iconic player of the Frank Lampard era, but the England national team was soon in his coach’s best books. We may look back on how the system was enough to keep Salzburg off goal. can and usually will do well.

The shooting numbers, on the other hand, don’t fly off the page, but we could sense from the numbers attacking the box in the first half that this could be more of a front foot side. It insures itself against the back counter, but has a slightly looser leash and a little more license to get up on the pitch and stay there.

Nowhere was the tweak more evident than on the left side where Raheem Sterling found himself lined up. In theory, he was a left-back, but the Stamford Bridge crowd didn’t confuse him with the brilliant Ashley Cole: he didn’t tackle, clear, or intercept, and had 11 duels. 3 of them won. For many in his position, this would be a disastrous night.

But the key stats for Sterling were eight touches in the penalty area, two shots on goal and, most of all, a 48th-minute strike that put Chelsea in the lead. It was at times intriguing that the 27-year-old attacker withdrew from action as he was the only one who stood out as a reliable player who would provide big chances on the night, but it was clearly a Blues build-up to his play. has been strengthened. He revealed after the match that Potter had ordered him to pin young right-back Amar Dedic. This was a dangerous zone for Salzburg, with Marc Cucurella free to move forward from the left centre-back role and Mateo Kovacic drifting wide.

“The way we played, we created chances and I think we dominated,” Sterling said. We felt like we were in control, but we had one chance.”

Consecutive runs were inevitable, especially in the first half. But it often happens at Chelsea. The goal is still coming. And even if it does eventually arrive, you’ll have to make do with just one, especially if the defense isn’t his spring 2021 he’s the precision-tuned machine Tuchel has built up that’s not enough. There is none.

With player sales and injuries robbing him of the highly effective unit that led his side to Champions League glory last season, Tuchel is more preoccupied than ever with fixing defense in the first place. I felt like I was He lays the groundwork before building a palace worthy of his attacking prowess. After all, he didn’t have time. In his place, Potter seemed to be trying something different in many of the first games. For that to work, it would need a far more clinically finishing forward than its predecessor.