Ferdinand defends Potter amid calls for his sack at Chelsea

Former Manchester United star, Rio Ferdinand has taken sides with Chelsea manager, Graham Potter amid calls for him to be sacked.

Potter, who has come under intense pressure at Chelsea following his team’s 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge to Southampton over the weekend, has won just two of their last 14 matches.

The Blues currently sit in tenth position on the Premier League table and the poor form has seen some Blues fans and pundits calling for Chelsea to sack Potter.

Ferdinand, however, believes the former Brighton manager still needs to be given some time at Chelsea because he has the hardest job in the Premier League and has never dealt with players of big stature before.

“I would go as far to say that Graham Potter has one of the hardest jobs in the league,” Ferdinand told his Vibe with Five show.

“Because what he has been given – it is weird to say that because he is [been given] crazy amounts of talent.

“[But] he is a new manager. He is never dealt with players of that stature, and those egos, and having to manage that.

“So every week, just imagine this, he is going in, yes he’s got great players at his disposal and they are not a team, he has got to formulate a team and disappoint between 11 to 15 players.

“All players think they should play. That’s one of the hardest conversations. You speak to any manager. One of the hardest conversations for any manager is to tell a player you are not playing this week. How do you pick those players back up again? It is hard.

“What I am saying is that it is one element of how difficult it’s: man management of people,” he added.