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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Josh O'Brien

Graham Potter concerns emerge just one month into his reign as Chelsea boss

Graham Potter has only been in the Chelsea hot seat for just over a month but has already made a habit of doing something that could upset the Blues' biggest names according to Danny Murphy.

The former Brighton boss has enjoyed an unbeaten start to life at Stamford Bridge and oversaw another victory in their most recent outing away at Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League. Goals from Matteo Kovacic and Kai Havertz were enough to secure Chelsea's status as group winners.

Over the course of his reign on the south coast, Potter would often name heavily-rotated line-ups and tweak his formation constantly. Brighton would rarely name an unchanged starting eleven while the 47-year-old was in charge.

That trend has continued in west London, with Potter giving 19 different players a start during his time at Chelsea so far. He has also used six different formations and has not been afraid to make some huge in-game tweaks, such as taking off Marc Cucurella just 36 minutes into Saturday's 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United and replacing him with central midfielder Kovacic.

Morale is high around Stamford Bridge, but former Liverpool star Murphy has expressed his concerns over the constant tinkering.

"The only thing that concerns me is that the best teams over the years to win the league, have basically had one way of playing and mastered it," he told talkSPORT.

Graham Potter often makes big tactical switches mid-game (ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

HAVE YOUR SAY! Is Graham Potter's habit of changing tactics becoming a problem? Comment below

"You can very quickly identify what formation they played. Arsenal's invincibles: 4-4-1-1. Chelsea under [Antonio] Conte: 3-4-3. The great Manchester United team: 4-4-2. Liverpool and Manchester City in the last few years: 4-3-3.

"He's [Potter] tweaking and tinkering the formation and personnel a lot. I'm all for adaptability, it's not a bad thing but the best teams don’t tend to adapt every week for the opposition. I think at the moment it's understandable because he's trying to find his best formation and what players he trusts in certain positions."

Murphy went on to suggest that the stars of the Chelsea dressing room could soon grow tired of the regular chopping and changing from the manager.

He added: "Sometimes with top players, and he'll find this out as he goes along because he's an intelligent manager, they don't like constant change with tactics and personnel."

With that being said, the big-hitters at Stamford Bridge such as Raheem Sterling, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Kai Havertz all appear to be enjoying life under Potter so far.

The Blues were dislodged out of fourth place by Newcastle last weekend and now sit just outside the Champions League qualification places on goal difference having played a game less than the Magpies.

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