Chelsea squad labelled 'a mess' by Rio Ferdinand as Graham Potter continues to grapple with best XI

Chelsea's 33-man squad has been labelled «a mess» by Rio Ferdinand, with the ex-Manchester United defender believing it is creating difficulties for Blues boss Graham Potter. Chelsea's stunning transfer spend has been the envy of numerous other clubs but it's not come without its problems, with some big-name players struggling to even make recent matchday squads. Ad And Ferdinand, speaking on BT Sport ahead of Chelsea's Champions League Round of 16 second leg against Borussia Dortmund, believes the problem is exacerbated by Potter's recent ascent to a job of this magnitude.

Champions LeagueInside Europe: Bellingham the 'key' for 'confident and consistent' DortmundYESTERDAY AT 16:28 «I think this is hard enough for a manager with huge experience and who's been at this level for a long time,» Ferdinand began. «Let alone somebody who's come from a place where he would never have had this type of quality at his disposal, and the amount of players at his disposal. »It's the disappointments that he's got to hand out every single week to these players; how they deal with it, how he delivers that message to those players, how he keeps them engaged.

«They're all big, big conversations that he has to get right on the job, first time. Mbappe: Bayern result won't dictate my PSG future Chelsea v Borussia Dortmund — Follow LIVE »There are 33 players — it's a mess." Ferdinand, alongside Joe Cole and Owen Hargreaves, settled on four nailed-on starters: Enzo Fernandez, Reece James, Thiago Silva and Ben Chilwell. But they agreed there was little consensus beyond that.