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The main talking points and moments missed from the Vitality Stadium in what turned out to be an extremely frustrating Saturday afternoon for Chelsea on the south coast
That was the very definition of frustrating for Chelsea in Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon. Eleven shots in total for the Blues, but they rarely looked like beating Djordje Petrovic at the Vitality Stadium. In fact, one could argue, Bournemouth had the better of the opportunities down on the south coast.
In back-to-back away games at Leeds United and Bournemouth, Chelsea recorded just one point. That, simply, is not good enough; not for a team with the aspirations of Enzo Maresca's Blues.
Maresca overachieved in his first season at the club. The Italian led the west Londoners back to the promised land: the Champions League, but he also secured two major honours, with Chelsea lifting the Conference League and Club World Cup trophies in an unforgettable campaign for all involved. There is almost an element of Maresca being a victim of his own success, because with Chelsea on 25 points from their opening 15 matches of the Premier League season, supporters are less than satisfied.
Against the same opposition, Chelsea are on minus-six points compared to last season. Progress has been difficult to come by, of course not helped by an unprecedented summer for the Blues.
A 13-day pre-season meant there was always going to be a lull at some point in the campaign. Are we experiencing it now? It is too early to say, but it is quite possible, even with Maresca's constant tinkering in relation to personnel and line-ups.
We are seeing signs of it. Enzo Fernandez's performance was one that screamed fatigue. Joao Pedro, who has been nursing a knock for a while now, does not look 100% at it, even when he came on with 'fresh legs' at the Vitality.
Chelsea brought their absolute A-game last week to humiliate Barcelona and bravely fight for a point against league leaders Arsenal. You do not have any doubts when this group of Chelsea players come up against a so-called 'bigger' team. It’s the Bournemouths you worry about.
No disrespect to the Cherries, who are a really impressive outfit under the clever Andoni Iraola, but Chelsea showed them perhaps too much respect on Saturday afternoon. Bournemouth started fast, with Antoine Semenyo at the heart of everything good from a Cherries' perspective, and Chelsea - once again after the horror show in Leeds on Wednesday night - did not have an answer.
They were incredibly fortunate not to have conceded a goal in the opening 10 minutes of the game. Chelsea grew into the match, as is often the case when you successfully ride the wave in football matches, but even then could not put together any consistent attacking patterns against a Bournemouth side that got players back into position extremely quickly.
The Cherries pressed Chelsea high up the pitch, but the energy and determination of their young team ensured they were rarely caught out going the other way. Iraola has got them set up excellently.
Chelsea were mindful of the hosts and their ability to squeeze the opposition in possession. There were a couple of occasions where the Blues would go short, as usual, from a goal kick and try to build from the back, but just before half-time, Maresca had seen enough. It spoke volumes to how Bournemouth were hurting Chelsea when the visitors had the ball.
Just as Robert Sanchez was about to make a short pass to Trevoh Chalobah, Maresca, who did not cut a happy figure on the touchline, shouted at the goalkeeper and instructed him to go long instead. Chalobah then ran up the pitch and the Blues looked to hit Marc Guiu with a long ball.
And that brings us onto one - and it is one of not that many - positive which was Guiu's performance. The Spaniard was brought on at 31 minutes to replace the injured Liam Delap and did a fine job with what he was tasked to do. Of course, Maresca would have loved the 19-year-old striker to be more of a goal threat, but in terms of holding the ball up and bringing other attackers into play, Guiu was excellent.
The reason Maresca picked Delap over Joao Pedro was to do with trying to get out and beat the Bournemouth press. He was hoping the ball would stick to Delap, but in his 31 minutes on the pitch, that was not necessarily the case. Delap was a tad sloppy before unfortunately injuring his shoulder just over half an hour into the game.
The 22-year-old striker walked off the pitch, wincing in pain, with his arm placed in his shirt which was being used as a makeshift sling to help make him slightly more comfortable. "Unfortunately he was already out for two months [with a hamstring injury] and he has to be out again," Maresca said on Delap post-match. "We don’t know for how long, but it looks quite bad, his shoulder."
It has been an incredibly frustrating period for Delap since signing for Chelsea for £30million back in June. Delap impressed in the Blues' Club World Cup triumph, scoring once and assisting the same amount across six appearances in the tournament, but at the start of the 2025/26 campaign, the striker has been unable to get himself going.
Delap has made just 11 appearances this season for the west Londoners, with only six of those coming from the start. His well-taken goal against Barcelona towards the end of last month looked to be something to build on for Delap, but an unfortunate injury will now halt any immediate progress.
"He has been unlucky," Maresca continued . "He was out two months already, now he has to be out again. Also, we are a bit unlucky because we need that kind of a No.9. We tried today with Marc."
We await to hear exactly how long Delap will be out of action for, but it rules him out of any games in the very near future. Next up for Chelsea is a trip to Bergamo in Italy to take on a dangerous Atalanta team in a crucial Champions League fixture on Tuesday evening.
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