Chelsea's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal illustrated a number of things that Blues supporters did not want to see at Stamford Bridge. Just one goal separated the teams, but a poor Chelsea performance made it seem worse than that, as Graham Potter saw his team fall to a second defeat in a row in the Premier League.
It is not a common situation for the club to find itself in, but a Champions League win did separate results, and it is impossible to ignore injuries to first-team stars. It is arguable that fully fit versions of Kepa Arrizabalaga, Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Wesley Fofana, N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic all would have started against the Gunners if available.
Of course, a club such as Chelsea cannot have such excuses, but it is still early in Potter's tenure as Blues boss, and injuries combined with his schedule has ensured he has had little time to implement his identity on the squad. It may not have been a satisfying response, but Chelsea's head coach could only acknowledge where his side were deficient compared to Arsenal.
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"Clearly, confidence is higher [for Arsenal]. They've got the points, got off to a really good start and have been working together for three years or so. They have an understanding of each other. We're at the start of our process and have had a few problems with injuries to key players they've managed to steer clear of. So lots of things, it's not one simple solution, unfortunately."
Potter has not even been in charge for two months, and while his hands have been tied with regards to player availability, there has been plenty of change in the Chelsea hierarchy around him. Laurence Stewart and Joe Shields have joined the club, while Christopher Vivell and Paul Winstanley are also expected to take on roles as Todd Boehly forms Chelsea's recruitment team. January will be the first real opportunity to have influence, while Kyle Macaulay, who joined Chelsea alongside Potter, will act as the conduit between the coaching staff and recruitment.
Come the turn of the year, things will be set to change, and others will have already. That is not something that is lost on the club, and while the Champions League draw may have offered some respite from the Arsenal defeat, the Blues must continue to progress.
Potter will hope to have vital players back from injury, more of his ideas ingrained and possibly even some new players by the time Borussia Dortmund have to enter his thought process.
Chelsea's director of football operations, David Barnard, spoke in Nyon following the round of 16 draw and suggested that the teams that face off in February would not be the same as those currently available. Is this a hint that the Blues could be active in January?
He explained: "Dortmund is one team we've yet to play in the Champions League, so we're looking forward to going to that. Manchester City were in their group this time, so we'll hope to talk to our friends at Manchester City to get a little bit of insight of Dortmund from that point of view. There's an English expression, there's a lot of water to flow under the bridge between now and February. We've got the World Cup, the transfer window, so I will say when we do meet each other in February, it may well be two different teams compared to if we played tomorrow."
Clearly, Chelsea are not where they need to be at the moment, but much like they are in the early stages of new ownership, the first team is also under new coaching, and Potter is working with new players. They have shown the ability to get results when the team has not always been at its best, as shown by the unbeaten nine-game run. The stretch from October to the World Cup was never going to leave any room to hide, however.
Arsenal showed one picture, and Potter must do his best to show another against Man City and Newcastle. Either way, a more accurate outlook will be in place in 2023.
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