Graham Potter fears Chelsea’s bloated squad is having a negative impact on his training sessions

Graham Potter fears his training sessions at Chelsea will be undermined by having too many players to work with.

Chelsea currently have a first-team squad of 31 after an extraordinary January transfer window that saw the owners spend £323m on eight new players, with only Jorginho leaving Stamford Bridge, though new signings Andrey Santos and Malo Gusto did not. have been registered to play this season.

Potter previously admitted that maintaining team morale is proving challenging because “most players want to play”, and after a month of working with the largest group, there are now concerns that the inflated numbers are affecting the game. work in the training field.

In his previous jobs at Brighton, Swansea and Ostersunds, Potter earned a reputation as a very hands-on manager who rigorously worked on patterns of play and team form in training, but that approach is proving challenging at Chelsea as there are so many players to accommodate. .

Rather than his preferred method of staging 11v11 training matches, Potter has been forced to alter his training sessions to keep all players involved, or leave several hanging around or working in a smaller group elsewhere. until they are needed.

Graham Potter has been forced to adapt training sessions to keep all players involved

Chelsea’s first-team squad has increased to 31 players after eight signings in January

The pressure has mounted on Potter following Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat by Tottenham on Sunday.

As a result, Potter has struggled to maintain continuity during training sessions, let alone during matches. The manager made six changes to the team beaten at Tottenham on Sunday as Chelsea fell to a third successive loss.

Potter has been able to accommodate all of Chelsea’s new players in his 25-man Premier League squad as the under-22s are registered separately, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke and David Datro Fofana were omitted from their Champions League. equipment.

“There are challenges when you have so many players,” Potter said earlier this month. ‘There are challenges in terms of what role they play because most players want to play. They want to play, be on the field and help the team. When they’re not, it’s a challenge and it’s a challenge for many reasons in this football club.

‘When you go through a transition period and the steps that we’ve gone through, there will be periods where it’s going to be more difficult than you ideally want, it’s not optimal. I don’t complain and I have to do everything possible to support and manage the club. Step by step I want to put the team in a better place than when I arrived.’