Chelsea FC manager Jose Mourinho blamed the club’s loss against Bournemouth on missed opportunities.
The Blues had plenty of possession and plenty of chances to stick the damn ball in the back of the net. However, Chelsea failed to do so and hence succumbed to the Cherries 1-0.
Speaking after the contest and evidently plagued by disappointment, Mourinho cited the poor finishing as one of the more frustrating aspects of Saturday’s display.
"We had enough chances and more than that we had a lot of half chances where we couldn’t touch the ball…If you are in the box you have to attack the ball. They are big chances we have to score."
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Chelsea went on a three-match unbeaten run on the back of the last international break. Wins against Norwich City and Maccabi Tel-Aviv were accompanied by a well-earned point against Tottenham Hotspur.
However, both of the Premier League clashes were plagued by the same problem that was witnessed on Saturday. Crosses were continually put into dangerous areas of the box, but there was not a single Chelsea player making a run to meet them.
Diego Costa was guilty of this in the 1-0 victory over the Canaries, but Mourinho dropped him for the Spurs and Bournemouth game. Perhaps it was the subsequent decision not to start a recognised number nine that has caused issue to continually surface?
Having said that, it is not rocket science. When a player is driving towards the byline, every attack-minded player should have designs on getting himself to the six-yard box. Even when Costa came on in the second half, he was still unable to sufficiently fulfill this important duty of a forward.
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Many Blues fans will undoubtedly point towards some marginal officiating decisions as reasons for their loss. Whether the handball was indeed illegal is down to your interpretation of the law while Glenn Murray’s supposed offside positioning could have easily gone either way.
However, the fact is that Chelsea lost because they simply could not score.
Nothing can be taken away from Eddie Howe’s men either. Bournemouth put together some delicious moves in the first period and coped fairly well with the Chelsea pressure in the second half too. Anyone who wants to accuse the seasiders of sitting back and playing negatively should have their head examined. They are Bournemouth after all. They set themselves up in a manner that would give them the best chance of taking three points.
And guess what? It worked.
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Chelsea’s finishing has taken over from the defence as their number one concern. There seems to be a void of attacking instinct at the moment and this is what will hurt a recovery more than any other factor.
Don’t even mention the four goals against Maccabi.
All quotes taken from chelseafc.com.