Graham Potter has proved in his short time as Chelsea boss that he is unafraid to rotate his team, even if it means changing shape. Against Brentford the Blues head coach once again only started two of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic, even though the former needed to be used at wing-back.
Chelsea started with a midfield three against the Bees with Jorginho sitting at the base and Mason Mount and Conor Gallagher taking slightly more advanced roles either side of him. The duo have more often been used off of Chelsea's main striker but they helped facilitate a change of shape on Wednesday night.
When Gallagher had to be replaced due to illness with 15 minutes on the clock, Potter chose to forgo Kovacic's rest and opted to bring the Croatian on as his teammate headed straight down the tunnel. That isn't the best news for Denis Zakaria.
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Potter recently said he he was 'sure' a chance would could soon for the Swiss international, who has more playing time for Juventus and Switzerland since the start of the season. It should perhaps not be a surprise that Kovacic is above Zakaria in Chelsea's pecking order, Potter even acknowledged a group of players that the deadline day signing must battle past ahead of the game.
The Blues boss said: "Yes and you can imagine every player wants to play and when they don’t they’re disappointed and they’re frustrated and it’s normal and you wouldn’t expect anything else but I have to say he has conducted himself fantastically well in terms of with the group, supports his teammates really well, is always there but you can tell he wants to play so, yeah, have to understand that situation but he is fighting for the team, being really professional in training waiting for his opportunity and I’m sure it will come around soon.
"Well, we just spoke about Mason Mount, and there’s Conor Gallagher and Ruben and Jorgi in that area of the pitch. There’s quite a lot of competition so it’s not like he is doing anything bad. It’s just I’ve got to start somewhere in terms of selection and then the other guys have got to be patient and try hard off the side and be ready when the team needs them and that’s exactly what he is doing."
That appears to put Zakaria into sixth in the pecking order in the middle of the pitch, not including the injured N'Golo Kante. It may be understandable that's where he ranks while he bids to prove to Potter that he is worthy of Premier League football but it is perhaps concerning that when the 47-year-old coach rotates, he does not appear to get any closer to the pitch.
Potter played down talk of Zakaria's loan being cut short in January, but with October offering the most relentless schedule of the season and only three games remaining it is becoming increasingly difficult to see when he may be afforded a chance. With the midfielder's time at Stamford Bridge only temporary, there is perhaps less reason to ensure he is placated, particularly if there is a prospect of adding a player like Edson Alvarez in January.
Hakim Ziyech may find himself in a not too dissimilar position. While illness disrupted some of the former Ajax's opportunity to impress, he has played just 12 minutes of football since Potter's arrival. Eight of those minutes came against Salzburg in the head coach's first match in charge.
Like Zakaria, he did not make it off the bench as Chelsea looked for a winner against Brentford and a substitution may have been revealing as to Ziyech's standing in the squad following a summer he looked to depart.
Carney Chukwuemeka was given his first significant minutes under Potter and impressed against the Bees. The former Aston Villa youngster had previously been given four minutes against Wolves but was on the pitch for half an hour at the Gtech Community Stadium.
That would appear to signal that Potter has trust in the UEFA European under-19 championship winner, though he has a very different profile to Ziyech. The 29-year-old Moroccan was keen to move in the summer before a transfer to Ajax collapsed and there seems to be little to suggest he won't look to leave again when the opportunity arises.
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