Chelsea players were left “shocked” to discover they had not even made the substitutes’ bench for the Blues’ trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last Sunday. Graham Potter’s side slumped to a third straight defeat in north London, courtesy of goals from Oliver Skipp and Harry Kane, which left the Blues closer to the relegation zone than to the Champions League places.
During this wretched run, which has seen just one win and four goals from 11 matches in 2023, Potter’s selection choices have frequently been called into question. His task was not made any easier following another splurge in the transfer window during January, when eight players were brought in accumulating £320million.
Potter now has a squad containing more than 30 players at his disposal. With only 20 spots available in the matchday squad, despite the substitute allocation recently being extended to nine, this means several players are going to be regularly disappointed to be given a watching brief.
