Chelsea v Bournemouth: The One That Roman Couldn't Watch

Me too, RA, me too!

So about that last corner Chelsea turned … I think it’s about time someone pulled over and got out the map. I know men don't like to ask for directions and all that, but it *might* just be about that time.

If anyone genuinely has any idea what in holy hell is going on with Chelsea this season  - and I mean actual ideas, not snide remarks about players you don’t like - then please show yourself. Speak up. Be heard. Because it is a mystery. There is legititmately no good sound reason that Chelsea have just witnessed their 4th loss at home this season - only Villa have a worse home record in the Premier League. I'll leave you to chew on that for a moment.

Football supporters can come across like an entitled bunch at times. 'We deserve this, we deserve that' … at the end of the day, you have to actually beat what’s in front of you and not just turn up. No one is going to hand you 3 points or follow the offside rule or call for a penalty. In that, Chelsea are not entitled to beat Bournemouth. There is no divine right that states they can just turn up and then go home 90 minutes later with any of all the points. However, with the Chelsea side that are on the books, the players that are in that starting XI - they should be able to beat a newly promoted side while at home - no matter how glorious that team was to watch in the Championship last season.

Bournemouth were brilliantly entertaining last season, but the number of injuries they’ve had to key players this season has really hampered their progress within the league. When they came up, personally, I thought they’d be more deserving of remaining in the league than a team like Sunderland - sorry to any Sunderland fans who may come across this. Pre-Big Sam you were awful to watch. Not that you’re exactly Bayern Munich now … but you know, baby steps and that.

Anyways, Chelsea’s squad should be able to beat teams that have just been promoted or clubs that by and large will be relegation fodder this season (not unlike Chelsea). Fans may want to single out a player because of his past relations, or his sturdy base and mean stare or simply because he's not a newly formed fetus straight out of the academy. But Chelsea's struggles on the pitch are not going to be down to one player, are they? If it were just one player, one problem, would Jose Mourinho not take them off the pitch and lock them in a cupboard never to be seen again? That being said, has anyone seen Kenedy since his night out?

There's no escaping that Saturday’s result was horrendous. And beyond the offside goal and missed penalty - it shouldn’t have happened. Chelsea definitely didn’t look like they were going to score for the last 20 minutes - but what about before that? Was the perfomance as bad as the result it produced?

While I try and stray from things being statsy* here because it is only a small part of the bigger picture, it remains telling of Chelsea’s performance that statistically Artur Boruc was man of the match. He made 7 saves, most from decent efforts, and claimed another 2 crosses. Boruc also had more touches than any one of his teammates. In other words, Chelsea did actually keep him and Bournemouth’s defence busy little bees and weren’t the abysmal, flaccid mess that social media may have you believe.

As for some of the punditry that was around me in the MHL ...  to the guy pleading with Chelsea to ‘do something’ every 30 seconds. Brilliant. If only you could be a coach. Such insight. Hopefully Jose Mourinho thinks up as keen a plan as that. We'll be climbing the table in no time. And to the gentleman in front of me who said ‘one chance, one goal’ like a creepy mantra for some weird cult he wanted all of us to join - sorry mate, it was 15 chances, 1 offside goal. Chelsea allowed Bournemouth 15 chances, not one. Hence the odd save or two from that Belgian goalkeeper who was pretty much in front of you for the entire first half. 15 chances, 1 goal, 0 points.

Roll on the Europa Champions League

jb xx

* yes that is a word