Chelsea are undergoing their first major transition in years, doing so under a new ownership regime that looks to implement their own philosophy on the club. With it has come some pain and there is likely to be more on the road towards building for a return to the top of the table.
The Blues sit 10th in the Premier League, have been knocked out of both domestic competitions and are 1-0 down on aggregate in the Champions League round of 16 against Borussia Dortmund, leaving very little to be excited about for fans as the last few months are likely to drag on. Feeling the brunt of most of the current disdain for the campaign is head coach Graham Potter.
The Englishman had the task of replacing the widely popular Thomas Tuchel, who had connected with the fanbase and brought the perfect style for cup football, winning the biggest prize in club football during in his short tenure. While matching the results and charisma of his predecessor was a challenge, Potter has also had to oversee a major turnover within the squad.
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Mixing all of this together with an injury crisis and perhaps some of his own mistakes along the way and the head coach is certainly under some pressure. It appears as though the club are willing to stick by their appointment for now, with the fan culture yet to fully move on from the hiring and firing days of Roman Abramovich that brought instant impact but perhaps papered the cracks of a proper Premier League title push - certainly in the last few years.
While things off the pitch can't be helped so much, Potter could look at the job done by Erik ten Hag at Manchester United as his blueprint for success. The Dutchman got off to a tough start in the Premier League, losing the first two clashes of his tenure with questions over his own transition.
Results have since picked up, sitting third in the table with an unlikely title race on the cards, while a Carabao Cup final and a victory over Barcelona in the Europa League speak for themselves. There's two key points to Ten Hag's success so far that can be translated over, the first being buy-in and the second being tactical tweaks.
On the first of those points, the manager earned a buy-in from both supporters and the squad alike to turn things around early on. There had often been questions around the desire of some United players to truly work hard for the shirt or talks of ousting previous management.
That hasn't been the case under Ten Hag, who has earned commitment with his team by suffering with them, as seen when he joined the side on a long run to demonstrate the difference between the distance they ran vs Brentford's total in the second game of the season. The running stats weren't the key issue, but sending a message to show the manager is suffering with the squad certainly has an impact.
Getting those players on side in a similar way and suffering with and alongside them will be a key thing Potter has to translate amid questions for years over the player culture at Cobham. Then there's the buy-in from supporters, something that may already be an uphill battle for the manager.
The main way Ten Hag has managed this has been through making tough decisions and having them pay off for him when they matter. Benching Marcus Rashford, in the form of his life, due to him arriving late ahead of clash against Wolves was a major call but one that showed authority and led to a positive result for the side anyway, with the striker coming off the bench to net the winner.
Letting Cristiano Ronaldo leave showed further strength in character and the results since have only backed up his case. This is tough for a side that have their back against the wall and in Potter's case, any decision could be a wrong one, but rotating the way he did in the defeat to Southampton has almost the opposite impact on gaining authority over the decisions he makes.
The second key point is tactical tweaks, though this may be something that Potter is already putting into place. It's no surprise that over time at Brighton, the head coach managed to play a fluid style of football with some mechanisms in their game that allowed them to punch well above their weight.
This took time, something he has less of in the spotlight at Chelsea; so finding a compromise between a more in-depth tactical approach to a more basic one is necessary. Looking at United again, this can be seen clearly after the first few defeat suffered under Ten Hag.
Against Brentford, there were clear issues in the side being overwhelmed when playing out from the back and especially through certain players. That has since been tweaked, with Casemiro helping the cause with his arrival too, but each player is used towards their strength.
David de Gea, for example, has notoriously struggled with his distribution and still shows glimpses of his susceptibility to mistakes on the ball, but since being asked to play simpler passes or clear the ball when under pressure has worked. While long-term there will be a desire to switch, the short-term dictates the need for results and making the most out of the players available.
Potter has to find a way to draw the strengths out of his team in a similar way, but whether it is too late to turn that around remains to be seen.
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