The Premier League table since Graham Potter took over at Chelsea

Chelsea have had a tumultuous season both on and off the pitch with an early managerial change and a number of expensive signings that have led to criticism of the new regime.

Todd Boehly has been splashing the cash but it is yet to turn into sporting success for the Blues. With the January additions of Benoit Badiashile, Mykhailo Mudryk, Noni Madueke, Joao Felix, Andrey Santos and David Fofana, fans will hope to see some serious improvement and a push for the top four places in 2023.

New players have not been the only change at Chelsea this season, with Graham Potter replacing Thomas Tuchel. Here is a look at how he has affected their league position since arriving.

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When did Chelsea hire Graham Potter?

Chelsea began the campaign with Thomas Tuchel still in place but it was not a settled state of affairs following the sale of the club to Todd Boehly. Very little patience was shown to the German coach who won the Champions League with the Blues, as he was sacked after six Premier League games.

At that time, Chelsea were sat in sixth place having amassed ten points. A contributing factor to Tuchel's sacking was a bad start to the Champions League group stage. Potter was poached from Brighton and announced as the new coach on September 8 2022.

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How has Chelsea's league position changed under Graham Potter?

Potter has had 14 league games in charge of Chelsea now and, well, they've gone backwards. Having been sixth at the time of his arrival, the west London club are now sitting in tenth place in the Premier League table.

That being said, he did guide them out of a Champions League group that was potentially getting away from them, meaning there is still an outside shot at a trophy. Chelsea have been knocked out of the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup under Potter.

After the seventh game of the season, a 2-1 win away at Crystal Palace, Chelsea did rise to fifth. Another victory, this time 3-0 against Wolves, took them to fourth under Potter. Chelsea stayed in the top four for another week by beating Aston Villa away and things were starting to look rosy for Potter.

That great form then started to fall away with a draw against Brentford, a draw against Manchester United and a heavy 4-1 loss against Brighton dumping Chelsea back down to sixth place. A very mixed but largely negative run of results since have seen Chelsea drop to tenth, and they are 10 points behind fourth-place United.

It is not the sort of gap that will be impossible to close, but there is little sign right now that the Blues will be playing Champions League football with their expensive squad next season.

Premier League table since Graham Potter's appointment at Chelsea

*as of 26/1/2023

Will Chelsea's January signings help?

There is certainly reason to believe that Chelsea's January business will result in an upturn of form. While the early suspension was unfortunate for Joao Felix, he is the kind of player who can create something out of nothing and he will score goals later in the campaign.

Badiashile looks assured at the back and Mudryk was exciting when he came off the bench against Liverpool. It remains to be seen what sort of form Madueke can bring to Chelsea, but he presents a fresh option.

There's no ruling out more signings before the end of the window and Potter should be able to set on a favoured system soon. It may not be enough to get top four, but they should finish higher than tenth.