David Datro Fofana’s halftime substitution by Chelsea manager Graham Potter against Southampton this afternoon has drawn criticism.
The Blues’ dismal Premier League performance continued this afternoon as they were defeated 1-0 at Stamford Bridge by bottom-of-the-table Southampton.
Despite Chelsea dominating possession in the second half and having more than twice as many shots as their opponents throughout the game, a James Ward Prowse free kick from the first half proved the deciding factor.
After the first 45 minutes, journalist Oliver Salt of The Daily Mail called Potter’s choice to substitute Fofana—after he had been selected to start at striker ahead of the more seasoned Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was left out of the squad—bewildering.
“Fofana one of the only positives of the terrible first half and he’s gone at half time,” the reporter remarked. Make sense of it
Throughout the first half, the 20-year-old was a bright spot in a bad team, recording one shot on goal and finishing two of the three dribbles he tried, which was the joint-highest percentage of any Chelsea player.
The strangeness of Potter’s call was further enhanced by Fofana, who during the course of his allotted 45 seconds made two crucial passes and completed all of them (SofaScore).
As a result, it was a highly odd move on Potter’s part to remove him from the game so soon after other media outlets had praised him as the team’s “sole positive” and praised him for his “physical” qualities.
With a trip to Tottenham Hotspur coming up next, the Blues’ schedule does not get any easier. Fofana’s performance today means that he has undoubtedly established himself as the favorite to start the following game, especially given the fact that Aubameyang has just one goal in 11 league appearances.