A number of key Blues players were shocked to be left out of the matchday squad by gaffer Graham Potter against Tottenham.
Four Chelsea players were stunned when they found out they had not even been considered for the substitutes’ bench for the Blues’ trip to the Tottenham Stadium last Sunday as Potter’s and his team continued their downwards spiral to a third straight defeat in north London, as goals from Harry Kane and Oliver Skipp left them clueless. This latest result has left the Blues another step closer to the relegation zone rather than to the Champions League places.
The heavily beleaguered former Brighton gaffer’s selection choices have frequently been called into question this season, which has been absolutely wretched for the Blues with just one win and four goals from 11 matches in the current campaign. Potter’s task was unfortunately not made any easier in the aftermath of another massive splurge in the transfer window during January, when eight players were brought in for a whopping £320million.
With more than 30 players at his disposal and only 20 spots available in the matchday squad, this means several players are going to be regularly disappointed watching from the sidelines despite the substitute allocation recently being extended to nine.
The Blues’ extremely bloated squad now leaves Potter with no alternatives but to leave several senior first-team hopefuls out of the first XI altogether, with the notable exclusions including the likes of Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella, Carney Chukwuemeka and David Datro Fofana, all of whom Potter said were “unfortunate” to be left out.
Not surprisingly, more than one of those players was “shocked” to find out they would not even consigned to the substitutes’ bench, the Telegraph reports. It can hence be foreseen that Potter’s selection headaches will only act to further rub players up the wrong way as the season progresses, with even more big-name stars at risk of falling down the pecking order across the spectrum.