It's been a far from conventional start to life as the new Chelsea head coach for Graham Potter.
The death of Her Majesty The Queen on Thursday saw the Premier League postpone its round of fixtures for the weekend to pay their respects. It allowed Potter more time to work with his new squad, however – a rare commodity in elite football nowadays.
Now, in Potter's first full week in charge of Chelsea, there is still uncertainty surrounding the upcoming matches. The Blues are scheduled for their second UEFA Champions League group game on Wednesday evening as they welcome Red Bull Salzburg to Stamford Bridge.
READ MORE: How Graham Potter's first Chelsea lineup is expected to look against Red Bull Salzburg
A few days after that, Chelsea are meant to be facing Liverpool in the Premier League. However, with the Queen's funeral confirmed to take place on Monday, September 19, next weekend's round of fixtures could be called off as well.
Whatever happens with this week's fixtures, there is still plenty of work for Potter to do behind the scenes. That includes getting to know which specific players he can trust to do certain jobs.
It was clear from Thomas Tuchel's time in charge that there were a select few he could trust to function within the team. Two of them he seemingly didn't have too much trust in were Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic.
Ever since Tuchel took the job in January of last year, the two wingers were on the periphery of the squad – essentially two 'fringe' players at Stamford Bridge. Whether that changes under Potter remains to be seen.
Both Pulisic and Ziyech wanted to leave the club over the summer transfer window when Tuchel was head coach, but neither found a move in time. Whenever a new manager does come in, there's a big opportunity for a fresh start for players – and that is indeed the case now for the wingers.
There are a number of other fringe players, too, including Kepa Arrizabalaga and Armando Broja. Edouard Mendy has suffered a poor start to the season and Kepa came into the XI for Tuchel's final game last week against Dinamo Zagreb.
It's a huge opportunity for the Spanish goalkeeper to revive his career at Chelsea under Potter. The new Blues head coach may look at Kepa for his distribution, which is stronger than Mendy's. Kepa, though, has made many mistakes during his time at Stamford Bridge. They need to be eradicated if he was to be a serious contender for the number one spot in west London.
Meanwhile, Broja, who recently signed a new long-term contract at Chelsea, is yet to make a start in the Premier League this season. The signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will not have helped his chances in that respect, but that's why the position of Kai Havertz is so important.
In Zagreb, the German played behind Aubameyang, despite playing most of his football under Tuchel as a false nine. Potter's plans for Havertz really do determine whether Broja will get many chances this season. If he plans on playing Havertz behind Aubameyang, then Broja theoretically becomes the second choice up front.
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