Chelsea embarrassingly forced players to 'sit on the floor' for meetings

Graham Potter has revealed that a number of Chelsea players had to sit on the floor for team meetings during his spell in charger.

The Englishman took over at Stamford Bridge in 2022, replacing German mastermind Thomas Tuchel. And Potter didn't hold back in the January transfer window, bringing in eight new players with hopes of improving the west London club in areas it was lacking in.

Joao Felix was brought in on a loan deal from Atletico Madrid for around £9.7million, while David Fofana, Andrey Santos, Malo Gusto, Noni Madueke, Benoit Badiashile, Mykhalo Mudryk and marquee signing Enzo Fernandez also arrived at Stamford Bridge in January 2023. It is reported a record £323million was spent under Potter in the January window.

With a jam-packed dressing room, Potter admitted that a number of players had to sit on the floor during team meetings through a lack of space, summing up the carnage at Cobham which Enzo Maresca has also experienced since becoming manager. Speaking to The Telegraph this week, Potter said: "We tried to support it as best we could, but it left us with a challenge of a lot of players after January and then they can’t go anywhere."

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He added: "A few of them just had to sit on the floor. It’s not ideal, of course. Everybody recognised it was a really difficult situation because you can only pick 11 players and if you’ve got 20 players not playing, it doesn’t matter where you are. If you can find a coach out there who says, ‘yeah, that’s the best condition for me,’ I’d be very surprised."

Despite signing a five-year contract with the Blues in early September 2022, Potter only lasted until April 2023 before he was replaced by interim coach Bruno Saltor. The 49-year-old managed 31 games for Chelsea, winning 12, drawing eight and losing 11.

Potter hasn't managed another side since parting ways with Chelsea over a year ago, reportedly turning down a number of jobs while he looks for the right opportunity. New boss Maresca finds himself in a similar situation to Potter at present, with the board once again running wild in the summer transfer window and bringing 13 new faces to Stamford Bridge - including the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Tosin Adarabioyo, Pedro Neto and loanee Jadon Sancho.

The abundance of business appears to finally be paying dividends for the side who finished sixth in the Premier League last season, currently sitting in fifth place with three wins, one draw and one loss to show for their efforts thus far. While the Blues kicked off their campaign with a 2-0 loss to Manchester City, they have since went on to beat Wolves, Bournemouth and West Ham, while holding Crystal Palace to a 1-1 draw.

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