Our unbeaten run under Graham Potter remains intact after the Manchester United visit, but the two points from the last six also feels like a bit of a disappointment. It is especially painful as we were a hair’s breadth from taking all six points against both United and Brentford after becoming the better side as the games developed.

Saturday’s match was intriguing to watch and to co-commentate on for the club alongside Ben Andrews and Jason Cundy, mostly because it was based as much on good tactical adaptations as it was good individual play. Man United clearly controlled the opening salvos and we saw very quickly from our vantage point, way up high at the back of the main stand, that the system had to be changed and quickly.

You can spend a lot of time chin stroking and going on about systems when you are an ex-player, and it can get a bit geeky, but this was less complicated. United had three very good players in the crucial central midfield area whereas we only had two, so they were quickly able to dominate the ball. I knew the manager had spotted this, even if it is 10 times harder to see from pitch level without the bird’s eye overview. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jorginho are fine players but when set up against Bruno Fernandes, Christian Eriksen and Casemiro, it was too much.

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Happily, the manager made the change to a back four allowing another midfielder, indeed two more bodies, to go in there as we had a diamond in midfield after one of the three centre-backs, Marc Cucurella was sacrificed. It was well summed up later on Match of the Day by Danny Murphy, but that leaves one question, was it a tactical error to set up as a 3-4-3 against a 4-2-3-1 in the first place?

I’ve watched it time and again

Of course it isn’t that simple. There have been hundreds of times in the Premier League when a 3-4-3 has hammered that system. We have watched it at the Bridge under many coaches before the current incumbent. The trick is to see when it isn’t working and know when and how to change it, and vitally when to be brave enough to do it. It felt tough on Cucurella being subbed, but I can recall Jose Mourinho at the height of his powers making similar hard-nosed decisions during first halves.

In the end it was torture to lose yet another two points in the dying embers (and you can hardly get any closer with the ball being only millimetres over the line) after what was almost yet another world-class save by Kepa. I have watched that time and again and for the life of me would never have guessed the entire circumference of the ball had gone over all of the line. The goal-line picture of the ‘fake’ ball made it look clearer than it was, but we don’t get to argue with the technology.

We are however still in the mix for the top four and it continues to be clear that this is going to be a very different season, with the likes of Liverpool and indeed Spurs and Arsenal dropping unexpected points.

Tonight’s match does at least give two fabulous opportunities for the team, first to get an iron grip on qualification out of the Champions League group stage and second, to get a bit of revenge for the two points dropped against Salzburg at the Bridge, in the manager’s first game in charge back in mid-September.

That wasn’t so long ago, but so much has changed at Chelsea since Graham Potter has got his feet under the table. I think a better reflection of Chelsea could be seen in the performance against Milan at the San Siro. The boss knows the capabilities of his team far better now and there is a lot more belief from a lot more players in Blue at the moment, from back to front.

Kepa is an obvious case in point but if you are Conor Gallagher, Armando Broja or even Ruben Loftus-Cheek, there is definitely an extra spring or two in your step over the past six weeks, simply because you know the manager believes in you.

Stand-out signs

If they have all had a boost in self-belief, even they could be overshadowed by the lift that Carney Chukwuemeka has got over the past few weeks. His appearances have looked assured and most Chelsea fans who have watched his cameos now know that he is pushing very hard for a start, maybe even before the month is out.

One of the first things I look at when I see a new, but particularly a young player come on, is how is team-mates work with him. Do they trust him, do they give him the ball in tight areas, do they make runs believing he has the quality to find them. Well, the answers were all yes, within seconds each time he has come on.

The first stand out is that he has stunning pace driving from midfield, but the other qualities have quickly revealed themselves and I can’t wait for him to get even more game time.

It is seriously tough to muscle your way into the Chelsea men’s first team, maybe especially in that midfield attacking area, but if you add the pace and power that Broja brings, then the young players breaking through could have a huge effect from here on in.

Today in Austria is another huge game for this football club, with the knowledge that a win means definite qualification. In fact a draw then a win at home against Dinamo Zagreb would also be enough to go through, so this is certainly one to, as they say, get something from. We may appear to have done the heavy lifting against Milan in the double header against them, but win this and there is the opportunity to rotate heavily against the Croatians next week with no jeopardy.

This could be a huge bonus considering the physical stresses the players are under. It would also give game time to one or two who need a start or two for full match fitness. It will not be easy but one more tough shift tonight will be priceless after the stuttering start to the European campaign.