The Blues already have plenty of players out injured in several positions. On top of it, there were three unexpected absentees for the Bournemouth trip.
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Chelsea’s below-par start to the season continued this weekend, with the Blues unable to win once again in the Premier League. They were held by Bournemouth to a frustrating goalless draw. It means Chelsea have won only one of their five league games so far this campaign. The visitors did have a lot of possession and looked more likely to break the deadlock, however, they were unable to convert those chances into goals.
Add to it, Chelsea’s large injury list keeps growing. The Blues already have plenty of players out injured in several positions. On top of it, there were three unexpected absentees for the Bournemouth trip. Record summer signing Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella and Noni Madueke were not involved at the Vitality Stadium. After the Premier League match, Mauricio Pochettino explained the reason behind their absence.
“Marc Cucurella had a fever yesterday so was at home and not training, and today it continued. Noni Madueke came back from his national team with a muscle problem. Moises Caicedo came back with a knock to his knee. We need to assess them tomorrow, but that is why they was not available, along with another 10 or 11 players who were missing,” Pochettino, quoted by the club’s website, said after the match.
Pochettino then shifted his attention to the contest by stating that the team should have been more clinical in the final third. “I think again we need to complete the chances that we create. In the first 20 or 25 minutes we deserved to score but we did not score. At the end the game was open, in the last 15 or 20 minutes I think we wanted to win, sometimes we started to disorganise our line because the full-back was so high, which gave Bournemouth the possibility to make some counter-attacks against us in some transitions,” he explained.
The Chelsea manager also spoke about how it was important for them to not lose when they are unable to win. “We need to be more relaxed. Sometimes the defensive players want to help because the feeling is we are creating chances but do not score. Then we need to be clever but many of the players are still learning about the game. That happens when you are building a new team with many areas we need to improve,” Pochettino stated.
He added: “In these type of games when you are pushing and pushing trying to score and you cannot score, it is normal. But if you cannot win, you cannot lose the game. We are disappointed with the result because we wanted to win but of course we know the circumstances in the game. We deserved more but we didn’t get what we deserved.”
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