Bournemouth is the best opponent this season so far. 

Still think Barkley provides more attacking prowess than any of our central midfielders. Would prefer him to play every game. Kovacic is great, but nowhere near fit enough. 

1 minute ago, Scott Harris said:

Nice passing from us, but very predictable at times. We are trying to play too simple.

exactly. This has been a recurring issue. Might have something to do with either striker position or willian position, i.e, we need better players/performances in these positions

The problem is Sarri has inherited this team and has had little choice in signings apart from Jorginho and maybe kovacic. 

Willian is poor at running forward and playing as pass. He get's it wrong far too often.

Has to be said but kovacic is bang average,slow and clumsy

HT. We need to score here. 

Most teams will do exactly as today and last week........we better find a way or this will be the norm.

that was better. Unlucky for Alonso !

Bored of Morata doing fcuk all again...get Giroud on

Kovacic hasn't had a preseason. He asked to be subbed last game. Surprised he's playing. 

Edited September 1, 20187 yr by enigma

Lots of possession not dangerous enough in final third. Been a recurring theme.

2 minutes ago, Jamjar1986 said:

Has to be said but kovacic is bang average,slow and clumsy

What? 

A lot of passing but little end result. Pedro on for Willian second half.

Giroud's deflections and back play could be priceless this half. this useless mommy's boy Morata got no balls for a game like this 

What? 

Yep, also gets caught in possesion to much, couple of cute flicks doesnt mask it tbh,

Giroud's deflections and back play could be priceless this half. this useless mommy's boy Morata got no balls for a game like this 

Makes no sense at all, hes not exactly in a tough battle here he just isnt getting any service

Barks to come on for Kovacic and get the goal we need...

4 minutes ago, Jamjar1986 said:

Has to be said but kovacic is bang average,slow and clumsy

Would have to agree, if we want to retain possession he's the man but possession isn't everything if we're doing f**k all with it.

Very tough first half, we're struggling to create chances, Bournemouth are very well. Willian has a poor half, Morata as well. 

Kovacic still needs to learn the league, some great tackles and moments, but he has to put himself much more into the game. Jorginho also had few sloppy moments. 

Let's hope we will fire up in the second half, we can't lose points here! COME ON CHELS!!!

1 minute ago, Jamjar1986 said:

Yep, also gets caught in possesion to much, couple of cute flicks doesnt mask it tbh,

Not his best game here and he is still some way from 100% but he is a different player to Barkley for example. 

Meh, not really impressed with that half. Morata isn't moving well enough. The full backs are hitting crosses, and although they haven't been that great, Morata has been nowhere near them. He's not attacking the ball enough, he's waiting for it. Willian has been very much like Willian, nice touches, but very poor end product and a very sloppy passes in attacking areas. Hazard has been way too quiet, he needs to get involved more and take on his man, he's been a bit too lazy today. Kovacic is trying but not effective enough at the moment, Jorginho and Kante are having ok games. Luiz has played some excellent passes, but he's made two poor defensive errors that Bournemouth should have punished him for. Rudiger has been fine, Alonso has been good and Azpilicueta has got forward well. 

Everybody just needs to up their game a bit.

Edited September 1, 20187 yr by Scott Harris

7 minutes ago, Jamjar1986 said:

Has to be said but kovacic is bang average,slow and clumsy

Give him a chance. 

2 minutes ago, Jamjar1986 said:

Makes no sense at all, hes not exactly in a tough battle here he just isnt getting any service

Makes absolutely sense - against 9 in the box, you need your forward to get out, play the ball, drag a defender with him, open space for Hazard and Willian and pass it in that area. Morata to Giroud is like Kaylo Ren to Yoda at that departement of the game. 

I think there's a few reasons for our lacklustre starts. First of all the tactics and getting accustomed to them and second of all the likes of Kovacic and Hazard still aren't up to full fitness yet. They are still at least two/three weeks behind schedule. Things will click eventually we just have to be patienthe and expect lacklustre performances like these while we're getting up to pace both physically and tactically.