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Joe Cole names the Chelsea player whose ‘motivation could slip’ under Graham Potter.
Former Chelsea football player Joe Cole named the Chelsea player whose motivation may slide under the new Blues head coach, Graham Potter.
Joe Cole says that Graham Potter may have difficulty keeping all of his Chelsea players motivated in the future and that players like Hakim Ziyech may eventually lose interest.
The Blues defeated RB Salzburg 2-1 on Tuesday night to secure their spot in the Champions League knockout rounds. Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz both scored in Austria.
Chelsea had only earned one point from their first two games when Potter took over, but thanks to AC Milan’s victory over Dinamo Zagreb, they will progress to the round of 16 as group champions with time to spare.
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The west Londoners have also enjoyed a resurgence in the Premier League and everything appears to be rosy in the Stamford Bridge camp right now. However, ex-Chelsea winger Cole fears some players at his old club might start to get restless.
Speaking on BT Sport after Chelsea’s win over Salzburg, Cole said: ‘It’s the honeymoon period at the moment. Every player who’s been out in the cold, they’ve seen Kepa come back in and now everyone in that squad – young players, old players – they feel like they’ve got the opportunity to get back into the fold and become a big player at Chelsea.
‘So everyone is motivated. That wanes after time. And he [Potter] will know that. After two or three months, Hakim Ziyech for instance, he might be one – I’m only using him because he hasn’t featured as much as the others.
But his motivation might start to slip and then how do you manage that player then? All the pats on the back and everything might not be the right course of action.
‘But I’m sure Graham Potter will address that when it comes. Everything is going so well at the moment you’re almost looking at things down the line that could possibly go wrong and how he would react. But he’s ticked every box so far. All the players are at it and the garden is rosy at the moment.’