Graham Potter has backed Marc Cucurella to improve soon after the left-back has been subject to criticism in recent weeks for his performances, with the head coach explaining how they had "to help change perspectives".
Having arrived from Brighton last summer for a considerable fee, the defender has become somewhat synonymous with the manager, who also came from the South Coast club, appearing as a figurehead of the underwhelming performances this season.
It is a theme which has run through various Chelsea head coaches, with Jorginho criticised whilst Maurizio Sarri was in charge, and Mason Mount has also faced suggestions that the amount he was playing under Frank Lampard was as if he was the manager's son.
Although Cucurella will likely not be subject to the same line of attack - as Potter said himself, "He doesn't look like my son!" - he is being singled out as a particular problem in this struggling Chelsea side, even with Ben Chilwell now returning to full fitness.
Potter was perhaps surprisingly understanding of the treatment Cucurella has been subject to, saying that "I think the results we're having, where we are in the table, somebody would be getting a brunt of the criticism.
"Whether it's fair or not doesn't matter, supporters are entitled to their opinion because without them there's no football club. In an ideal world you'd want everyone going the same way, everybody supporting everybody but that's not the reality.
"There's no magic formula. It would be wrong of me to say it's easy for him. It's not easy to play with that kind of pressure in that situation. You're [fans] looking for somebody to be critical of, that's normal, that's human nature.
"We're not losing because of one individual, we're a team, we're a club and we have to move forward."
The boss may have understood the aspect of singling players out, but he still maintained his support for Cucurella's ability, backing the Spaniard to start showing why he was signed last summer.
"I know his qualities," Potter remarked. "He was the final piece in our puzzle [at Brighton] and helped the team function really well. Sometimes - and he won't be the first player - when you're at a club, for the first six months it won't quite feel like it should, and that will affect his performance.
"Chelsea weren't the only team that wanted to buy him, and the other team that wanted to buy him are quite good! So he's not a bad player, but at the same time I understand the frustration at the moment.
"In an ideal world you'd want everyone going the same way, everybody supporting everybody but that's not the reality. There's always frustration and I think we have to accept that frustration. It's part of what we have to accept when we're in this position."
Goalscoring woes
A long-running theme over the course of this campaign has been the lack of goals from the team, with chances often being spurned, most notably in midweek away at Borussia Dortmund.
Potter's side have scored just one goal in the past four games, leading to suggestions that they ought to have included the purchase of a striker during their wild January transfer window, but the head coach dismissed these claims.
"From the outside - especially when you listen to the media - Chelsea had a problem with scoring goals [last season] and they spent £100 million on a number 9 to fix the problem. As far as I can see, it didn't fix the problem.
"Man City have been asked to sign a centre forward for the last five years and they've probably been the best team in the league for the last five years.
"The notion that you can just go into a store and buy a 9 who fits your profile of investment [...] it's not quite straightforward."
Much of that line of questioning came from the result in Germany, with the sheer number of missed opportunities naturally bringing the issue to attention, but Potter urged for patience and time to see the problem resolved.
"If we'd have got a positive result in Dortmund would we be having the same level of conversation? The team is just coming together [...] the hardest bit to master is the attacking bit.
"That bit does take a bit of time. Could all the players be a bit more ruthless and clinical? Absolutely."
Such comments inevitably bring to mind concepts of a 'journey' or a 'long-term plan' that a manager is attempting to integrate - that, however, is not a route Graham Potter wants to go down.
"I don't like to say the word process because you just get pelters if you say that!"