Chelsea FC Fall To Bournemouth: 4 Key Takeaways
Stunted Attack
Now let’s turn our attention to the game proper (and Chelsea’s performance, or lack of).
We can all sing about Branislav Ivanovic’s poor crossing ability from now till thy kingdom come, but of what use is a well-executed cross when there are no bodies to attack them? I can imagine Willian’s and Baba Rahman’s sense of frustration when their excellent crosses were either met by Bournemouth’s players, gathered with little fuss by Artur Boruc or allowed to fizzle across goal without any contact from a Blue shirt.
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Even on the few occasions when a Chelsea player managed to get on the end of a cross, they attacked it with a sense of disbelief, like “oh wow! Didn’t realise it was meant for me!”
Unfortunately, crossing was the only outlet left open for the Blues to create chances as Bournemouth gave Chelsea exclusive access to the flanks, crowding the 18-yard box in preparation for the inevitable crosses that would come in.
While it seemed like Chelsea dominated both possession and territory, what was really going on was that the Blues were simply dancing to the tune being played by Bournemouth. And it was so easy simply because Chelsea currently lack the players with the creativity and dribbling ability to manoeuvre through packed defences, neither do they have the cohesion and understanding required to do the job!
Chelsea’s limited threat from outside the box was also pretty evident, which is a far cry from the days of Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard.
Next: Stunted Attack