Wright turns Chelsea spotlight on two "f****** nervy" stars letting Potter down

14 January 2023 , 10:10

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Ian Wright has hit out at Kepa Arrizabalaga and Kalidou Koulibaly and claimed the "f****** nervy" Chelsea stars are letting Graham Potter down following the Blues' defeat against Fulham in midweek.

Potter was only appointed by new Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly back in September, but the pressure is already mounting on the Blues boss following a rotten run of results. The Londoners have won just once in their last nine outings: a run that stretches back to the start of November.

Chelsea's latest setback was inflicted by their west London neighbours on Thursday night, where goals from Blues old boy Willian and Carlos Vinicius was enough to condemn Potter's side to a 2-1 defeat.

New signing Joao Felix also saw red on his debut to cap a miserable night for the former Brighton chief, who is now under intense pressure.

But Wright insists that he is being let down by his team and singled out Kepa and Koulibaly following the defeat against Fulham.

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Speaking about Vinicius' winning goal on his Ringer FC podcast, Wright said of Kepa: "The goalkeeper [Kepa] has got to either stay on his line for the cross or he’s got to go through everyone and get to the ball.

"The way the ball came in, it’s a good cross, it’s a tempting cross. But if the goalkeeper is in the right position, it shouldn’t give you a problem. You either stay on your line or you go and palm it away, it was in the air long enough.

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Ian Wright believes certain Chelsea players are letting Graham Potter down (BT Sports)

"I’m looking at Kepa and I’m sorry man but it’s not working out. The man makes too many mistakes. He looks very nervy. When you look at Fulham’s goals and the Man City goal, I think Kepa has to do better.

"We’re looking at a Chelsea side where even if they’re playing well, I cannot look at the goalkeeper and think he’s going to help them win a game. I can’t see it."

He then took aim at Koulibaly, who only joined the club from Napoli in the summer.

The veteran arrived in the Premier League with a reputation as one of Europe's most consistent defenders but Koulibaly has looked out of sorts in a Chelsea shirt and struggled against Fulham.

Kepa Arrizabalaga has been criticised following Chelsea's defeat against Fulham (Clive Rose/Getty)

Wright added: "How can someone like Koulibaly be so fragile? He looks f*****g nervy and very anxious right now."

Despite Wright's blast, Potter refused to condemn Kepa for his mistake after the match. The Chelsea chief said: "I never like to speak about individuals when we lose. I think the goal itself was a frustrating one from our perspective. I didn’t think they were putting us under too much pressure, even though they had the extra man.

"It felt like a bit of a soft goal to concede and that’s something we have to do better with."