Ex-Liverpool midfielder Murphy picks out main ‘concern’ with Potter’s start to life at Chelsea

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy thinks Graham Potter’s “tweaking and tinkering” with his Chelsea line-up could hurt him in the long term.

The Blues are still unbeaten under Potter since the former Brighton boss replaced Thomas Tuchel on September 8,

Potter has won three and drawn on of the four Champions League matches he’s been in charge of, while he has won three and drawn two in the Premier League.

They have lost a bit of ground at the top of the Premier League in recent weeks after back-to-back draws with Brentford and Manchester United.

And Murphy reckons Potter will have to settle on a “more consistent” line-up and formation soon as he continues to get to grips with his squad.

“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,” Murphy said on talkSPORT.

“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.

“But moving down the line I would expect a more consistent best team and best formation and having confidence in that side.”

There have been positive noises from the players over Potter’s techniques and coaching style but Murphy thinks they will eventually get tired of “change”.

The former Liverpool midfielder added: “They want to build relationships, they want to know their team.

“Sometimes with top players, and he’ll find this out as he goes along because he’s and intelligent manager, they don’t like constant change with tactics and personnel.”

Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher made his first Champions League start in their 2-1 victory over Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday night and the England international revealed it was a “proud” moment.

Gallagher said: “Absolutely it was a proud moment for me to make my first start in the Champions League and I just wanted to give a good account of myself.

“I wanted to put in a good performance and help the team get the win, so I’m really pleased with how it went.

“We’re taking things game by game, each match is important and we’ve got a lot of them. Everybody just needs to be ready, which we are, and hopefully we can carry on the form that we are in.”

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