Monday 25 April 2016

Did AFCB bomb forward too much against Chelsea?

The way AFCB played against Chelsea made it a very entertaining game. They could have tried to be more cagey in not pushing so many players forward early on, but we know with AFCB they need to take the initiative in games if they are to get the best performance.

Tommy Elphick felt that the players were perhaps too adventurous early on and that they were encouraged by their good start and emptied the pitch too quickly so that Chelsea were left with few men to beat when an AFCB attack broke down. It is a question of limiting the risks and the Cherries gambled a bit too much in the first five minutes and they were hit.
The Cherries may be gambled a bit too much against Chelsea in the opening minutes.
While the early goal was damaging it did not really change the game greatly. The Cherries still kept their courage and tried to take the game to Chelsea and unlike the matches against Man City and Liverpool they did not concede again straight away. The team that Eddie Howe put out though was extremely attack-minded and I believe he certainly thought he could get at this Chelsea side. The problem was that the white shirts were well prepared for the Cherries and had the pace-driven Pedro waiting to pick the ball up whenever they got possession on the break. 

Credit has been given to Chelsea though and the way Fabregas directed play was a massive influence on the game and something that the Cherries did not manage to cope with. While Hazard, Willian and Pedro weighed in with the goals the trickery certainly came from Fabregas and Gosling and Surman perhaps needed more help in trying to contain him. 

Still I believe AFCB used the best tactics they could have against Chelsea. They just did not have the quality finishing that we saw from the London side.  

All Departments has released its latest comprehensive review of the 1-4 defeat against Chelsea with Matt Callaghan. To listen visit the All Departments' website.

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