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- London is Blue Dispatch #079
London is Blue Dispatch #079
Chelsea vs Bournemouth Review: Pressure on Maresca intensifies after Blues emulate 22/23's abysmal run of form.
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Once the euphoria from Reece James’ exhilarating rescue act, a first league goal in 885 days, cooled, what remained was not easy to accept. This was Chelsea’s 5th game without a win in the Premier League. The last time they managed that was in their worst ever PL season, 624 days ago. Bournemouth’s double after the break made it 18 goals conceded in the 2nd halves of games, nearly twice of the 10 they’ve conceded in the first 45, an eerily predictable series of unfortunate events.
It is hard to say Maresca lacks courage as a manager. Playing a newly turned 18-year-old academy graduate over two senior centerbacks is not a decision many in his position would make. After trying Caicedo at RB against Spurs and having to hastily readjust at half-time with Tottenham consciously targeting the Ecuadorian at FB, Maresca chose Caicedo to start there once more. The purpose it seemed, was to get the press-resistant Lavia in against the league’s most ferocious and diligent pressers. For the first half, both those decisions paid dividends – with Acheampong clamping down the largely ineffectual Ouattara, and Lavia gliding past the hounds of Bournemouthville.
And like most of his decisions have, in this miserable five-game run, both his calls backfired. Lavia was caught dawdling on the ball for half-a-second and left his backline vulnerable to a dangerous transition, Caicedo committed too early. It was the exact opposite with Acheampong, who gave too much time and space for a trigger-happy Semenyo to cannon one into the top corner. A minute or so later, Lavia was left hapless in midfield again, collecting a yellow card. This, just like the Spurs game, was Maresca’s cue that the game was slipping away. Reece James was brought on for Lavia, with Caicedo moving back into midfield.
Once more, Maresca waited till the 81st minute for his first attacking change, despite Nico Jackson and Cole Palmer quite clearly fading past the hour mark. In his 9 minutes on the field, Felix made a grand total of two passes, completing one, but every time he touched the ball the Bournemouth defense squirmed in discomfort. There was hardly any time at all to grow into a game against one of the league’s most intense sides.
And yet all the blame cannot go on Maresca. Chelsea finished with 26 shots and 3 big chances, two of which went begging. Up until the dying seconds of the game, the Blues’ only league scorer since Christmas was Palmer. There were uncharacteristically laggard touches from the magic man after the hour mark, the burden of being a lavish squad’s only reliable goal threat weighing heavily on those slender shoulders. Under other mitigating circumstances, say at the end of a 5 game winning streak in the beginning of December, a point would been grudgingly acceptable against a side unbeaten in 9.
However, missing the first AND second choice centerforwards and Tavernier, and being completely neutralized in the first 45 minutes, this is nothing less than 2 points dropped; which will sting further on a night when City blew a two-goal lead and Liverpool drew too (not that the latter matters anymore.) There is no question about it though, Maresca will feel the heat amped up a few notches despite individual failings elsewhere. A sixth winless game in the PL will make it Chelsea’s worst run of games in the PL era. Wolves are up next, and they will arrive hungry.