… the London side’s worst return after the first five matches in 28 years
… as Pochettino comes to terms with the size of the task facing him at Stamford Bridge
Interestingly, Chelsea’s squad which cost over £1 billion to assemble failed to score for the second successive game.
Chelsea marked their return to action with a 0-0 draw away at Bournemouth, after being blanked 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest before the international break.
The visitors were unfortunate to hit the post and bar in Bournemouth, but too much of their play was pretty without carrying any serious level of potency.
According to beIN Sports, the former Tottenham and Paris Saint Germain boss was hired in the close season to clean up the mess left by Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard, who all had spells in charge of Chelsea during last season’s wretched campaign, but Pochettino has so far been unable to make an impact despite.
Chelsea hit the woodwork twice as they were forced to settle for a frantic 0-0 Premier League draw with a resolute Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday, Eurosport reports.
Nicolas Jackson hit the post from distance in the first half with Raheem Sterling’s free-kick thumping the underside of the woodwork just after half-time before Levi Colwill was deemed offside after finishing on the rebound.
Bournemouth also had their chances with Robert Sanchez producing a fine stop late to deny former Chelsea striker Dominic Solanke a late winner with his turn and shot.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men have picked up only one win from their opening five league matches, but at least the point arrested a recent slump of away defeats.
Chelsea had been on a run of three straight losses away from home in the Premier League, including a 3-1 defeat at West Ham this season.
They had last lost four times on the bounce away from Stamford Bridge in the top flight 23 years ago.
Both teams had chances and Andoni Iraola’s side were far from second-best, however, questions and pressure will increase for Chelsea.
While Mauricio Pochettino may feel Chelsea have deserved more than they have earned from their first few outings of the new campaign, the table does not lie.
Five points from five matches and the 14th spot closer to the relegation zone than the top four, in the standings is not where any Chelsea fan feels their expensively assembled squad should be. Especially in failing to break down a willing but limited Bournemouth team that had failed to win any of their past nine Premier League games.
