Graham Potter, like many other Premier League coaches, will be dealing with a smaller squad over the next six weeks as most of Chelsea's squad travel to Qatar for the first winter World Cup.
Although Potter still has a sizeable group still at Cobham, six of his starting lineup at St. James Park this past Saturday are heading to the tournament, and some are likely to play a majority of minutes over the next month with their nations.
Potter confirmed on Friday that Chelsea are heading to Abu Dhabi in December for warm-weather training and a couple of games before the return to competitive action after Christmas.
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Chelsea's first game back is against Bournemouth on the 27th of December at Stamford Bridge, and Potter will need to find some clear answers before then to revive a campaign that is quickly turning sour.
Here are the three things for Potter to fix during the break.
A settled formation
Chelsea fans have had to get used to a number of different setups since Potter took charge in September. 3-5-2, 4-2-2-2, 3-4-3 and 4-3-3 have all been deployed with varying levels of success.
This was not completely unforeseen, given the flexibility Potter showed with Brighton, keeping their supporters guessing on a weekly basis. But it feels like this has hurt Chelsea's need for consistency and disrupted the chance for some relationships on the pitch to grow.
Although the days of the settled 4-4-2 are long gone, a consistent shape or setup for players might lead to more consistent performances after Christmas, given the current group have still looked effective in a 3-4-3, the shape Thomas Tuchel gained success with.
Brave selection choices
Although the result did not turn out positive, it was hard to feel negative over 18-year-old Lewis Hall gaining his first league start for the club against Newcastle.
This came after an impressive performance in the League Cup against Manchester City, where the academy prospect looked capable of making a significant jump up.
Giving fresh faces chances will aid the patience Potter needs ahead of a challenging second half of the season. Armando Broja, Carney Chukwuemeka and Omari Hutchinson could all offer similar in cameos, even if they are just sporadic appearances to start.
Not being haunted by Brighton
It seemed like after the humbling 4-1 loss at Brighton, Potter went pretty safe against Arsenal and Newcastle, causing Chelsea to sit most players behind the ball, take few risks in possession, and just tried to avoid making errors.
They lost both games 1-0, offering little encouragement of making a breakthrough. The daring setup Potter tried at the AMEX got badly exposed, but it still created good chances on the day.
It showcased how Potter is aiming to evolve Chelsea's attack to try and press higher up the pitch. There are risks and limitations to this current squad, but it's better than the turgid approach seen in the last two league games.
A risk-free approach is what tired some fans of Tuchel's approach in the end, and Potter should be looking beyond that if he hopes to move this squad forward.
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