5 talking points from our caning at the hands of Chelsea

Ouch. Another match, another harsh lesson dished out to us from a technically superior side - Chelsea being the latest team to enjoy a pleasant stroll in the south coast sun, knocking four goals past us in the process.

Despite the fact we’re all but safe, this end to the season threatens to leave a nasty taste in then mouth – with five out of our last seven home games ending with defeat. But to help vent my fury here are five talking points from a game I’d rather forget. Hopefully writing about it will help with that process.

No physicality

Without Harry Arter we certainly lack a little forward drive in the middle of the park – but even with him in the side we’d still be lacking a true physical presence to help us hold onto the ball in that part of the pitch. Andrew Surman is a calm presence who keeps the ball moving, but with the best will in the world he’s miles away from being someone opposition fear. Then there’s Dan Gosling, who is a hard worker but can too often be found wanting in terms of hi first touch and passing ability.

I’ve personally had more than enough of seeing talented individuals have it far too easy against us – Cesc Fabregas was having a great time for example, having the freedom of Dean Court to spray around passes with nary a challenge being made on him.

I feel that we really only have a couple of players who can compete physically consistently at this level – Josh King and Simon Francis come to mind – and in recent games we’ve been too easily overpowered, not having the personnel to really fight and get the ball back. In the second half against Chelsea we rarely had the ball - and when we did, we generously gave it straight back. We’re nice like that. Then again, this point could also be related to…

Fitness

Those stats that turned up earlier this season about how no other Premier League team run further every match than us may now no longer be correct. We looked completely gassed in the second half this weekend, and along with lethargic recent displays against Tottenham, Manchester City, Aston Villa, and Liverpool we possibly have a real problem in terms of fitness.

If we were still in the relegation mix I’d be very concerned about this – and Eddie Howe has to be sure to address this so it doesn’t happen next season.

The front two

We had four fully fit strikers to play against Chelsea, with Josh King and Lewis Grabban starting – who were then replaced by Benik Afobe and Callum Wilson in the 63rd minute. To say the change didn’t work would be an understatement, with Afobe looking lost and unable to play the behind the striker role he had clearly been tasked with – and Wilson struggling to get into a game where the tide had already started to turn against us.

Working out which front two works best will be one of Eddie Howe’s most pressing concerns heading into next season, but it’s certainly nice to have choices to make up top after suffering so many injuries this campaign.

A possible change in formation

I’ve said it many times before (such as here, and here), but I’ll say it again for good measure. We need to consider reverting to playing five across midfield if we’re to make it difficult against the top sides.

This was proven yet again this Saturday. Chelsea have great players on paper, but they were in poor form – and we simply laid out the red carpet, giving them more than enough space and time to have ample opportunity to display their technical superiority.

Big changes afoot?

If Eddie Howe hasn’t already told some of our squad that they’re playing for their future in these final few games of the campaign, he should. It’s clear to everyone in the ground this weekend that nearly half of our starting eleven might have to slowly be replaced if we want to establish ourselves in the top flight – as some simply have reached the ceiling of what they can achieve.

I’ll always be grateful for what all of these players have done in the last 2-3 years for this football club, but some harsh decisions need to be made if we’re to progress to the next level – and our transfer business this Summer has to be better than many of the odd decisions we made in January too…Juan Iturbe anyone?

I do feel I’ve perhaps been a little too negative in this column (especially considering our season overall) though, so here’s a photo of Eddie Howe smiling at bear mascot to help lighten the mood.