Chelsea had well and truly run out of ideas as they approached the final ten minutes of regular time yesterday.
The problem was, with the now standard 8 minutes of injury time yet to come, there was still basically 20 minutes to play remaining.
The final minute of the game was embarrassing. We should have had Bournemouth pinned back, with various kitchen sinks being hurled at them. Instead, the team just tamely passed it around waiting for the whistle. No wonder the boos rang out so heavily at first time.
You can see all the action (or lack thereof) in the clip embedded here:
Amazing urgency to win in the last minute of the game today
byu/blue_jay26 inchelseafc
[Footage from NBC Sport]
Chelsea fc , the entire club, the fans, and the footballers. Please emback on a prayer and fasting program for three days (3-days) for the club revival. The spiritual control the Physical. The numerous injuries befallen the club footballersis worrisome. Let the club seek the face of God almighty. With God all things are possible says the Bible. Please invite a powerful man of God for prayers. Thanks. Catechist Matiki Francis, Cross River State Nigeria.
I agree the final two minutes were frustrating and puzzling in terms of the lack of urgency (i.e., the ball never getting played into the box), but I have to disagree that this was somehow indicative of a larger problem. I mean it’s not as if we only played the ball side to side all game. We did create some chances (and 1.8 xG), we just didn’t look quite as fluid and dangerous as in the prior few games. Certainly the final minutes seemed a bit disjointed and lacking chemistry due to the introduction of substitutes who haven’t spent much time on the field together—for example, Maatsen in for Enzo. Feels like Poch is still working out how his best rotations both between and within matches.