Potter Defends Decision To Sub Aubameyang On & Off Against Man City | Football/Soccer

Graham Potter has explained why he took the decision to sub Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on and off as Chelsea lost 1-0 to Manchester City.

WHAT’S GOING ON? When Raheem Sterling suffered an early injury against his former club at Stamford Bridge, Gabon forward Aubameyang was introduced on the bench in the opening five minutes. He was then replaced in the 68th minute by Omari Hutchinson, with the 33-year-old frontman seeing his barren run in front of goal extend to 10 games.

What he said: Asked why Aubameyang couldn’t see the game against City, Potter told reporters: “He came on after one minute, he hadn’t played for a long time, and he made an absolute difference for us because Manchester City make you walk a lot. I thought he doing everything he can for the team. He’s a bit tired, same as Hakim [Ziyech], it was his decision. We needed a little bit of energy so I thought we could use Omari, Conor [Gallagher]and Lewis [Hall]. Of course, players want to stay on the field and influence the game. This is a normal reaction.

Pressed again on whether he justified his decision to Aubameyang, Potter added: “No, I don’t have time to talk deeply about it. You know that footballers want to play and help the team. It’s a decision we have to make. He’s been there for a long time. didn’t play and played against Manchester City as a striker, sometimes you have to work hard on the ball. He gave everything for the team and got a little tired. So that’s the decision.”