It will not have gone unnoticed to many that Marc Cucurella did not feature in Chelsea's win against Crystal Palace. The former Brighton defender remained on the bench for the duration of the match as the Blues earned three points thanks to Kai Havertz's goal, though the Blues were required to hang.
Youngster Lewis Hall started the game on the left side of defence and when he was replaced later in the game Kalidou Koulibaly found himself in that role as Chelsea held onto their lead. Of course, there may have been physical and height considerations in play as the Eagles looked to find an equaliser but it remains notable.
Cucurella has been a regular part of the Chelsea side over the course of the season without setting the pitch alight. Recent weeks has seen the 24-year-old struggle for as many minutes, however. He only featured in the final 10 minutes in defeat to Fulham and did not feature in FA Cup defeat to Manchester City having started against the Premier League champions just days before.
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At Stamford Bridge on Sunday, there was a sense that Cucurella had been displaced by his younger teammate, with Hall impressing in a position that is not his favoured one in recent weeks and months. The Spanish left back still has a lot to live up to his £62million price tag.
With Ben Chilwell set to return, competition for the spot on the left side of defence will really heat up and leave each player looking to prove their worth. Given the fee required to sign Cucurella, he will be the one under the spotlight and with the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly also struggling and Raheem Sterling perhaps not offering what many expected, despite his contributions, questions may be asked.
The summer in particular was a tumultuous period that required a lot of squad turnover following Chelsea's takeover and saw Todd Boehly become interim-sporting director with little in the way of senior recruitment with Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech having left the club. Much has changed since then with the likes of Christopher Vivell and Paul Winstanley in place, and Joe Shields and Laurence Stewart set to come into place in February.
"There’s a period of transition and you have to stabilise things and work to support as best you can," said Potter at the weekend. "If you’re in a position where in a small period too many people are making recruitment decisions, it’s not a recipe for short- or long-term success. So we have to stabilise things, make good decisions, and align our resources. Resources are one thing but they have to be aligned and used in the right way.”
With David Datro Fofana, Joao Felix, Mykhailo Murdyk and Benoit Badiashile added to the first-team squad and Andrey Santos also arriving at the squad, the pace of transfers has not slowed down in January. Pressure is sure to arrive for those players too.
Cucurella should not be written off after his first months at the club, there have been positive signs too and his versatility has proved useful. His familiarity with Potter is sure to provide some benefits moving forwards too and when the whole team settles, the former Brighton defender may be able to grow into his role.
However, such progress should serve as a reminder that the club can look inwards for their solutions. With the sheer volume of signings, there is a risk of a bloated squad at a minimum.
“Potter said: "We’ve got to be, not necessarily careful, but you’ve got to understand we’ve got ten or eleven players unavailable and you can’t just sign players to replace those because then you’d have a squad of 30 and that is a problem. So you have to do the right thing and look at what the right solutions are."
Those solutions may already be at Cobham, and moving forwards perhaps that is part of the plan with the number of young players signed too. That an under-21 midfielder can come into the first team and play in defence and impress should serve a reminder of the quality of player that may be available however. That should be taken into account before major outlays of spending.
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