It's been strange circumstances for Graham Potter since he was appointed Chelsea head coach just over a week ago.
On the day he was confirmed as the new Blues boss, Her Majesty The Queen sadly passed away. The groundbreaking news saw last weekend's Premier League fixtures postponed out of respect.
What it meant for Potter is that he had a rare window to work with his players on the training ground. He had about six days to prepare for what was his first match in the Chelsea dugout on Wednesday evening against FC Salzburg.
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Despite six days seeming like a while, it would not have felt like that for Potter. He came from Brighton to Chelsea and was faced with a squad that he has never worked with before (bar Marc Cucurella).
Chelsea were meant to be in Premier League action this weekend against Liverpool, but Sunday's match has been postponed due to policing issues with the Queen's funeral due to take place on Monday. Next week, the majority of the Chelsea squad will jet off to represent their respective countries in the last international break before this year's FIFA World Cup.
Not all of his squad will be going, however. One notable absentee from his country's squads is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Aubameyang announced in May that he will retire from international football with Gabon.
Other players that won't be representing their countries are Marcus Bettinelli, Trevoh Chalobah, N'Golo Kante (injured) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Kante is expected to return after the international break from his hamstring injury but Chelsea have not given a precise timescale.
For these players, they will get to work even closer with Potter and his backroom staff at Cobham while the others are around the world. What usually happens to make up the numbers is that a selection of academy players will also get to train with some of the first-team stars.
Meanwhile, Aubameyang will also be staying in London to work with his new head coach. The 33-year-old has played twice for Chelsea since joining from Barcelona on transfer deadline day, but has failed to make an impact just yet.
The movement is there. There were a few instances in the draw with FC Salzburg on Wednesday where the former Arsenal captain would make a run off the last defender, but his team-mates either weren't on the same wavelength or they were unable to find him.
Aubameyang is one of those classic number nines who doesn't necessarily need to be too involved in the match to do what is required. Quite often, during his spells at Arsenal and Barcelona, he would barely touch the ball but would be clinical when called upon. So far for Chelsea, he hasn't really had the opportunities. Potter's task is to try and find a way he can be found by his team-mates and how Chelsea can properly utilise his talents.
As frustrating as international breaks are for the die-hard club supporters, this one really could be beneficial to Chelsea and Potter. It looks like it has come at the right time.
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