Chelsea midfielder says Potter sacking ‘is on us’ but welcomes ‘good news’ of Lampard return
Mateo Kovacic has thanked former boss Graham Potter for his time at Chelsea, claiming the players should shoulder the burden of his sacking.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the Croatian midfielder paid tribute to his old boss.
He said: “We have to say thank you to Potter who was here who did a good job but it’s not easy when there are many changes here so it was a tough situation for him as well.
“We need to be honest with ourselves. In the end it’s easier to sack a coach than 30 players, but it’s on us as well, we need to do better.”
Potter was sacked as Chelsea boss after less than seven months in charge at Stamford Bridge, winning just 12 of his 31 games in the hot seat.
New Chelsea owner Todd Boehly spent £323m on transfers in January, including a British record £107m on Enzo Fernandez and £88.5 million on Mykhailo Mudryk.
But the big expenditure could not turn Chelsea’s season around and last Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa was the nail in the coffin for Potter.
Yesterday it was announced Frank Lampard would be the man to guide Chelsea to the end of the season.
The ex-England and Chelsea midfielder has been appointed for his second spell in charge of the club, after he was dismissed from the role back in 2021.
28-year-old Kovacic admitted he was glad Lampard has returned, and hoped the Blues can no revitalise their struggling season.
Kovacic said: ‘We know him, he was our coach so it’s good news that he is back and trying to change our season because it has not been good.
“We had a short meeting. He explained to us what he wants and what his desire is for the end of the season so we now have the opportunity to go and climb the table in the league as much as we can.
“We have two beautiful games with Real Madrid so there is a possibility and if there is a possibility to finish the season good then we should take it.
“He came very calm with a clear idea of what he expects from us but it’s still only one day, so we will see in the next days what he will ask us to do on the pitch and how we’ll prepare.
“It’s now difficult to tell how it’s going to be but he is back and we want to do the best for the club.”
READ MORE: Former Spurs boss claims Chelsea caretaker Frank Lampard can still become a ‘top manager’
