Premier LeagueMatch Report

Big-spending Chelsea rarely threaten in drab goalless draw at Bournemouth

Mauricio Pochettino’s team now have just five points from their opening five games

Bournemouth's Dominic Solanke in action during his team's draw with Chelsea at the Vitality Stadium. Photograph: Getty Images
Bournemouth's Dominic Solanke in action during his team's draw with Chelsea at the Vitality Stadium. Photograph: Getty Images
David Hytner
Sun Sept 17 2023 - 16:37

Bournemouth 0 Chelsea 0

For Mauricio Pochettino, it was just not possible to sell this as a hard luck story. His Chelsea team dominated possession, they played on the front foot and they had plenty of possibilities in their approach play. But there was something missing, there remains something missing in this team that he is trying to shape out of the chaos of the summer transfer window.

Quite simply, it is aggression and conviction – particularly in the final third, when the pressure is really on. It was hard to say that anybody in Chelsea’s colours had played well – apart from maybe the stand-in captain, Conor Gallagher.

There were too many fives and sixes in the ratings, nobody who stamped his authority on proceedings and it came as no surprise that there were boos from the Chelsea enclosure upon the final whistle. After four points from their opening four matches, the club badly needed a win, something that represented a spark.

Raheem Sterling hit the underside of the crossbar with a free-kick at the start of the second-half but there were not too many regrets in terms of glaring missed chances. Chelsea kept threatening but it all came to feel rather empty.

READ MORE

Bournemouth will take the point, especially as they were in containing mode throughout, although they almost nicked it late on, Dominic Solanke extending Robert Sánchez. What a moment that would have been for the former Chelsea striker. And so it is back to the drawing board for Pochettino, back to sifting through all of the absentees.

Pochettino had endured plenty of stewing time since the Nottingham Forest defeat before the international break and he could count his injured players in double figures; Moisés Caicedo became number 10 when he returned from Ecuador duty with a knee problem. It was not clear at first why Marc Cucurella and Noni Madueke were also missing.

When it rains, it pours, Pochettino might have reflected and, boy, did it rain here in the hours before kick-off, a monsoon accompanied by flashes of lightning. He named only three players on the substitutes’ bench who had kicked a ball for the club.

Pochettino’s eye-catching selection call was Mykhailo Mudryk for Ben Chilwell on the left wing and the manager’s fears about his team – and what they miss – was stamped all over the performance.

Chelsea’s build-up play showed promise, Gallagher driving with the ball, getting into spaces; Sterling menacing with his pace and directness, the sharpness of his turns. It was the end product that they craved and it was horribly absent.

“Attack, attack, attack,” chanted the travelling fans on 37 minutes, even though their team was attacking and having moments. It spoke to a sense of frustration, which was encapsulated, really, by Mudryk.

The Ukrainian had flickers and he could reflect that he set up two chances for Gallagher in the first-half; the second was the clear one. When Mudryk’s pass ran through to Gallagher and he turned Ryan Christie, he had to score. He shot too close to Neto, who saved well. In the debit column for Mudryk were a number of hesitant decisions, involving when to release the ball; weak challenges and a yellow card for a late lunge. The hard truth was that he was uncomfortable to watch at times.

Nicolas Jackson hit the outside of the post for Chelsea with a low shot on 14 minutes that he appeared to scuff and the big chance of the first-half came at the other end. Bournemouth worked a quick free-kick and Pochettino felt his blood run hot when his players switched off. Christie crossed and there was Dango Ouattara stealing in at the far post. Sánchez made an excellent block to deny him.

It was all Chelsea for long spells, Bournemouth offering little as an attacking threat but it was anybody’s guess as to whether the visitors could land the decisive blow. Sterling came extremely close at the start of the second-half with his free-kick, curling it up against the crossbar and down on to the line, with Neto beaten. Levi Colwill converted the rebound but he had strayed offside.

It was hard not to feel sorry for Mudryk when Pochettino substituted him in the 63rd minute, sending on Cole Palmer. Mudryk needs a break so desperately and he cannot get one.

Chelsea could not get one, either, Colwill going close after a scramble and Palmer working Neto. From the rebound, the Bournemouth substitute, Marcos Senesi, blocked from another replacement, Ian Maatsen.

Enzo Fernández was plainly furious to be substituted, walking off extremely slowly, but at least Chelsea were not ambushed, as Bournemouth came on strong as the structure of the game frayed at the end. Philip Billing wasted a free-kick on the edge of the area and Solanke went close on two occasions. – Guardian