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Maurizio Sarri may now have the striker he's always wanted, but a humiliating 4-0 defeat at Bournemouth proved that the Blues were still struggling with problems
The arrival of Gonzalo Higuain in Chelsea last January placed him in an unenviable position as the club's savior in mid-season, but that would have always been a burden too heavy for one man.
Exactly one year after a 3-0 home defeat against Bournemouth, they suffered an even more humiliating defeat at Victoria Park, beaten 4-0 on a difficult night for Higuain and his manager, Maurizio Sarri.
The Argentinean had 29 hits, no shots and no decisive pbad for his Premier League debut. Unsurprisingly, local fans marveled at Higuain's misery, calling him "just a sh ** Callum Wilson," Bournemouth striker previously targeted by Chelsea.
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It is not only Higuain who has suffered.
Josh King and David Brooks repeatedly tore Chelsea, fisted twice and scored three goals before Charlie Daniels added a fourth late.
The embarrbading nature of the defeat places Sarri and his team in the spotlight. Chelsea is no longer ahead of Arsenal, which ranks fifth, unlike goals.
The most obvious concern is that players are showing no sign of better adaptation to the Sarri system as the season progresses.
"Sarriball" proves predictable even with Higuain leading the line.
Indeed, Bournemouth simply followed the plan previously established by a host of teams not belonging to the top six who managed to offer Chelsea possession in non-threatening areas before hitting them at the break.
Everton, Mourinho Man United, Southampton, Leicester and Crystal Palace all played this way against Chelsea, who proved unable to get around the defenses in depth. In addition, in most cases, Jorginho was marked by the game. It was a story all too familiar here.
New attacker, same old 'Sarriball'.
N & # 39; Golo Kante looked uncomfortably in the last third, missing a huge chance, while no one was at all surprised when Mateo Kovacic saw his head close pushed towards the bar.
The Croatian midfielder did not score 93 goals for his club and his country, but he was accused of becoming Chelsea's answer to the captain of the Marseille team Napoleon, Marek Hamsik, at Stamford Bridge. It is not going well.
Chelsea placed Eden Hazard and Pedro alongside Higuain, but all three proved unable to provide exceptional magic, the Spanish international being particularly disappointing.
Willian, Olivier Giroud and Ruben Loftus-Cheek made their entry but did not change anything, as Chelsea kept Sarri's favorite 4-3-3 form.
In the back, David Luiz made a terrible mistake for the second goal, only reinforcing the feeling of déjà vu among the traveling support.
Perhaps worse, Bayern Munich's target Callum Hudson-Odoi went to the South Coast but was not included in the qualifying match team, just one day after Chelsea rejected his request. transfer in the hope of sending a direct warning. to the Bavarians.
Instead, teen talent would be forgiven for wanting to leave more than ever before.
Make no mistake, it was a historic defeat, a defeat for Chelsea and his boss. It was only the second time in club history that they lost a Premier League game by a margin of four goals.
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Sarri can no longer signal the absence of a prolific striker for Sarriball's failures. They have one now in Higuain, who knows "Sarriball" better than most after his record-breaking feats in Napoli in 2015-16.
This defeat can not be attributed either to the attitude of his players. Higuain may well prove the solution to Chelsea's problems in advance, but question marks hang over all areas of this team.
And maybe the biggest of all is "Sarriball" itself. The manager must find answers quickly.
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