Bournemouth Dismantle Chelsea

Maurizio Sarri has come out to say his Chelsea players could not state the reason for their shambolic display against Bournemouth during a lengthy post-match question and answer in the away dressing room at the Vitality Stadium.

His words, “In that moment I wanted to talk with them alone, without anybody else,” Sarri said. “I needed to understand. It’s impossible to play in such a different way between the first and second half. I don’t understand why. I don’t know exactly. I want to try again tomorrow because we want to solve the problem.

“It’s very difficult to have an idea of the performance. We played very well in the first half. In the second half we conceded the [first] goal after two minutes and stopped playing. In the offensive phase, we played not as a team, but as individual players, and did not defend. It’s hard to understand why.

“What I saw in the first half, there was the possibility to solve the problem. We had 43 minutes still to play, so we could solve the problem. But not with that kind of reaction. So it’s very difficult for me to understand why. I wanted to try to understand after the match.

“I spoke with the players immediately after the match, but it’s very difficult also for them to say why. So I have to try again tomorrow because I need to understand why, because I need to solve this problem.”

Asked if his system has become too predictable and easy to play against, Sarri replied: “No, we are not an easy team for teams to play against. I think we played a very good first half, with some problems in the offensive phase.

“We had many players with the back to the opposing goal, so we need more movement without the ball otherwise, for the striker in this team, it’s really a big problem to play. It’s difficult for the strikers and wingers to find spaces, so we need to improve. But we played a good first half.”