‘We thought we played well enough’

Graham Potter believes (or says he believes) that Chelsea played well enough to win today’s game against Everton, and that right there just about sums up the situation, doesn’t it?

Chelsea did not play well enough, and if we thought we played well enough, then that’s certainly a serious problem. And if we actually think that we indeed thought we played well enough (i.e. this isn’t just Potter putting on a positive spin, as per usual), then that’s even worse.

“We thought we played well enough to get the three points but ultimately if you don’t defend well, you don’t get the result. [...] Really disappointed because we wanted to win.”

We say we wanted to win, but did we actually want to win? Did we want to win like we wanted to win against Dortmund? Wanting to win should be a default setting, not something to strive for and turn on occasionally when the mood strikes.

Both times Chelsea took the lead against a typically Sean Dyche-ian Sean Dyche’s Everton, we thought it was job done. We grinded out two leads, and we gave them away cheaply both times. Everton manufactured their first equalizer from pretty much their first corner, the second from a nothing play that should’ve been shut down several times over in midfield or defense.

But our lack of structure, our lack of cohesion, our lack of focus, and our lack of precision (at both ends of the pitch), came back to bite us.

So no, we didn’t do enough. We didn’t play well enough. Certainly not to actually win.

We did enough to give credit to the opposition.

“We did a lot well and we are disappointed with the goals we conceded tonight. [We] lost duels in the box and when you lose the duels, there is danger. Credit to Everton, they are good at that but we have to do better. It’s disappointing.

“There were a lot of good things about the performance but we have just taken one point. [We] had to defend the set pieces and not allow ourselves to be open in big spaces but we did that. Lots of positives from the performance as a team and individually but there is a sour feeling when you don’t get the three points.”

-Graham Potter; source: BBC

You’re not just a bystander and an observer. This ain’t it, Graham.