Jose Mourinho has admitted his concern after watching his Chelsea side lose 1-0 to Bournemouth as they slumped to their eighth defeat of the season.
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Bournemouth won the Championship last season and Chelsea the Premier League, with the victory showing not just how far the Cherries had come, but how far the Blues have fallen.
The result leaves Chelsea languishing in the bottom half of the table, 14 points behind fourth-placed Manchester United and three points off the relegation zone.
“I am concerned obviously”.
Chelsea’s miserable start to the season prompted the public backing, after four wins and five losses in 11 games in all competitions. That is not the problem.
‘Before the game I was still thinking we can finish in the top four. Our objective is to finish top four, but maybe we have to finish top six.
The reigning Premier League champions made a slow start to the tie and that allowed the Cherries to seize the initiative.
Glenn Murray’s victor, 99 seconds after coming on as a substitute, had a touch of fortune about it, with the striker seemingly standing in an offside position as he headed home from two yards. If you analyse matches, you can clearly identify a few players who are not able to be consistent all the time.
“We were aggressive, created chances and had crosses and a clear penalty that the referee did not see”.
Nemanja Matic missed Chelsea’s best opportunity, heading over the crossbar from inside the six-yard box in the second half before substitute Murray pounced with eight minutes remaining to secure a famous victory.
Eddie Howe says his side’s 1-0 away win at Chelsea was a result of their persistence, and will strengthen their confidence.
“We lost the game exactly at the moment where we were the strongest team, in our strongest period”, he added.
“Hopefully it will be talked about for a long time to come but we don’t want this to be a one-off game”.
“I have to give my maximum every match”.
“In the second half we did more than enough to score and to win”.
Costa’s presence was limited until he fouled Adam Smith, was denied a penalty when his cutback hit Simon Francis on the arm and then was shown a yellow card for a foul on Matt Ritchie in quick succession. “It was really emotional in the dressing room afterwards, so I’m so proud of them”.
“When you get good momentum and good consecutive results, it’s because you have stability in performances”.
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“It gives the players some reward for how hard they’ve worked, ” said Howe, a former Bournemouth player who went around town with buckets collecting cash to keep the club afloat during the late 1990s. Time-out, stopping the game, asking for the medical department to go on, to have a drink like a minute out in basketball.
