There was a little vignette that revealed a lot about the buoyant nature of AFC Bournemouth in the moments that followed Glenn Murray’s goal – the strike that was consequential enough to prompt what the manager has described as the best result in the club’s 125-year history. Seconds after the ball was nodded past the Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, with eight minutes plus stoppage time to go, Eddie Howe was up on his feet on the edge of his technical area gesticulating for his celebrating players to calm down. The assistant manager, Jason Tindall, pointed to his temples – use your brains, concentrate, don’t lose your heads. So what did Bournemouth do for the next few minutes? Go on the attack, of course, full of joyful abandon.
Even if they could not quite resist their adrenaline rush after the stuff-of-legend goal by Murray the overall performance of the team demonstrated that essence of the synchronicity between a manager’s ideas and his players’ determination to put that into practice. If Bournemouth’s team ethic and belief in the way they like to play was central to their cause, the continuing worry for their opponents is how Chelsea manage not to look like the stereotype of a José Mourinho team. The cohesion is frayed. The winning mentality is dulled. You could sense the players, given the stress of the situation they find themselves in, trying to make something happen as individuals rather than performing with much collective direction.
The club’s stance regarding Mourinho’s position is understood not to have changed. Their inability to properly snap out of the slump that has gripped them for most of this season is a concern that gnaws, however. The mood at Stamford Bridge emits more of a sense of resignation than a ruthless refusal to allow this malaise to continue.
There was a little snappiness. Chelsea’s bench were unhappy with perceived gamesmanship from Bournemouth when there were a couple of breaks in play to treat injured players. Howe and his staff merely kept smiling. “That’s just us,” he explained. “We are not confrontational characters. I didn’t even notice them run over. It’s just about the football for us.”
Bournemouth’s positivity is understandable, given the significance of an astounding result in the wider context of the football club. Howe, though, reining in his emotion to speak with clear, good sense afterwards, was keen to regard this victory within the confines of Bournemouth’s Premier League experience rather than centuries of existence.
“We don’t want it to be an isolated win, the highlight of our season and that’s it – gone,” he said. “This can’t be the moment that’s talked about in years to come. We want several more. This whets the appetite for what we can do. It’s absolutely crucial the players have the belief. The last few games where we have been building and getting better and better, this is the icing on the cake.”
For Bournemouth to have secured this result, despite their shortage of fit players, shone an even more intense light on their defeated opponents. Despite being without their inspirational striker Callum Wilson for so long, Bournemouth have still managed to score more goals than Chelsea in the Premier League so far this season. That is an illogical statistic, given the attacking players at Mourinho’s disposal, and underlines how strangely dysfunctional last season’s Champions have become, with so many pivotal players short of the expected levels of form and efficiency.
Having impressed in the false nine role at Tottenham, Eden Hazard did not overly trouble Bournemouth’s back four. When Diego Costa came on he threw himself into one or two exchanges but did not show enough attacking intent. Cesc Fàbregas was again ineffective. With intense assignments ahead – Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday night followed by a trip to confident Leicester – Chelsea again find themselves looking for some solidity to give them some breathing space.
It is extraordinary that they have not manufactured a sequence of two successive wins in the Premier League all season. The hope that they might have turned a corner with a win over Norwich and a draw at Tottenham dissolved as Bournemouth’s endeavour, and the benefit of a tight offside decision, rewarded the visitors.
Howe is hopeful it will prove a turning point. “It was a brilliant experience because we have had some sombre times, I can tell you, this season,” he said. “It has not been a bundle of laughs in changing rooms after games. The players last season were used to winning, had developed that winning mindset. This season has been difficult. That’s why those moments are so special and to share them with the players that have given everything was a nice moment.”
On Saturday Bournemouth play Manchester United, with confidence boosted. “We are aware these two games were going to be extremely tough. We have got over the first hurdle and now we have Manchester United at home. It just goes to show how much the Premier League tests you every week.”
Howe was asked what he would have said if someone had suggested Bournemouth would sit two points behind Chelsea after 15 games. “I’d have certainly taken it,” he said, before affording himself a wry smile. “The trouble is you’d be thinking you’d be second … ”
Man of the match Steve Cook (Bournemouth)
