Chelsea talking tactics: Two depressed clubs face off in Bournemouth

Chelsea may be feeling low after Bayern, but Bournemouth has been feeling low most of the season. What happens when two depressed clubs face off?

This is easily Bournemouth’s lowest season in their Premier League era. They have gone through bad runs before, but none as prevalent as the one this season. They sit just above the relegation zone with very little breathing room (and even that could be gone by the end of the weekend).

It has all just gone wrong for the Cherries this year. Eddie Howe may be having a case of the “stayed too longs” with the club as nothing seems to be working anymore. The buccaneering style of play they used in their Premier League years is still there, but this season has been bad enough at points that Howe has reeled that into to something more pragmatic just to stop the rot.

Chelsea is not in a very good place after the Bayern loss but that has just been Bournemouth all season. Howe usually has a great tactical plan for Chelsea, but this year it just all seems to have run its course.

Bournemouth typically set up in some sort of 4-4-1-1/4-2-3-1/4-4-2 shape depending on the mood of the day, but Howe is hardly afraid to throw curveballs and go into a 3-4-3 or something else too. He will likely look at what he expects Chelsea to do, as well as his own team, as he decides.

Offensively, Bournemouth tries to play it quickly down the wings to get in behind or into their striker for flick ons. Against larger teams, they tend to be more aggressive and direct with this so Chelsea can probably expect their midfield to be mostly ignored during the course of the match as the wings get targetted or the center backs deal with balls over the top.

Defensively Bournemouth will look to cut passing lanes rather than take Chelsea on directly. That is a major reason as to why their formation might change to better deal with the lanes Chelsea naturally has with whatever formation they go with.

It is worth mentioning however that as bad as Bournemouth has been this season, they still beat Chelsea in the reverse fixture. The Cherries, no matter how bad their run of form tends to be, almost always seem to turn up against the Blues. In fact, since they came into the Premier League it has been honors even between the two sides with each side taking three wins.

Bournemouth primarily survived last time through stifling Chelsea’s possession and catching the Blues asleep late on. That has been a common and strong strategy against the Blues all season and it remains a weakness. Chelsea still struggles to finish and Bournemouth may like their chances of inviting the Blues on while looking for the break away.

In short, Bournemouth is basically a bogey team for Chelsea and the Blues are already low mentally after Bayern. Bournemouth may be low too this season, but they very much have the potential for a result here. Frank Lampard will need to prepare his side tactically and physically to get over their own hurdles.