Chelsea 0-3 Bournemouth: 5 Talking Points

What a way to end the first month of 2018 for Chelsea Football Club. It was a rollercoaster of a month for the fans as they witnessed the club's fall and rise on and off the pitch.

From losing 2-1 to Arsenal, to drawing 0-0 with Norwich City and winning comfortably vs Brighton & Hove, Chelsea fans have seen it all. It does not end there, the club was the subject of some ridiculous transfer rumours too.

Callum Wilson, Junior Stanislas and Nathan Ake scored early in the second half and that was enough for The Blues to crumble to a 3-0 defeat. Here are the talking points from the game:

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#5 Chelsea need a Plan C

Antonio Conte has two formations or plans to work with: 3-4-3 or 3-5-2. Apart from one rigid technique in those two formations, there is nothing to add to it or change during the game.

The manager needs to get back to the drawing board and find a better way of playing against teams who defend way too much. The Blues are not able to play well against teams who rely on counter-attacking football and that is something they need to fix as soon as possible.

#4 Was Nathan Ake right to celebrate?

Ake celebrates after scoring

When Nathan Ake scored, the Chelsea fans inside the Stamford Bridge fell silent. That wasn't the case for long as they started booing Ake for celebrating straight away.

The Dutch defender was back at the Bridge after being sold in the summer. He was impressive in all ways and the goal was just the icing on the cake. But was he right to celebrate against his former club? Yes.

Ake has all the right to celebrate because he was never given a proper chance in the first team. He was brought back from his loan at Bournemouth this time last season but was just a bench warmer most of the time.

Now that he has got the freedom, he has done something he's been waiting to do for a long time: showcase his talent at Stamford Bridge. The Dutchman was widely criticised by Chelsea fans but you really need to step into his shoes and see it from his point of view.

#3 Gary Cahill is back!

What happened?

For those who have been reading the Chelsea talking points since the start of the season, there is one point I kept using till November: Gary Cahill must be benched.

However, for the last 2.5 months, the English defender was doing well and was finally regaining the confidence of the Chelsea faithful. All that went crashing last night against Bournemouth.

He was clueless, out of position and never looked like he was going to make things difficult for Callum Wilson and Junior Stanislas. The Bournemouth duo was unable to do anything when Andreas Christensen was on the pitch but as soon as he got injured, they ran the show.

When the captain himself is the worst player on the pitch, how do you expect the other players to be motivated? It will be the best thing for Chelsea if they let go of Cahill in the summer.

#2 Bournemouth got what they deserved

Team effort

Bournemouth came in with a plan and executed it to perfection. The Cherries, who are unbeaten in six matches now, were brilliant at both ends and were the best team on the night.

After the game, Callum Wilson revealed that they were targetting one side of the Chelsea defence (Gary Cahill's) and that was evident during the game. Eddie Howe did his homework well while Conte was busy finding a solution to the Batshuayi issue.

The unsung hero of the night was Fraser. The 23-year-old winger was causing trouble at both ends for Chelsea and Marcos Alonso had no reply. He was able to block everything Alonso tried in attack and was able to run past the Spaniard in attack with ease.

#1 What next for Chelsea?

What now?

Chelsea face Watford, West Bromwich Albion and Hull City in their next 3 matches before they host Barcelona and then head to Manchester to face United and City in back-to-back matches.

Injury woes have made things more difficult for Antonio Conte and his men but they need to get things together soon if they want to end the season in a good way. The only good news for Chelsea is that they have a good backup striker in the form for Giroud now and have Emerson Palmieri to provide some competition to Marcos Alonso.

Alvaro Morata, Willian and David Luiz should be back from injury soon and The Blues would be hoping that the injury to Christensen is not serious.