ANALYSIS: How NOT to score a goal? A short story by Chelsea Football Club

Chelsea desperately needed to find the right Neto.

A sign of another frustrating game for the club came just a few minutes before the end of Sunday's 0-0 draw at Bournemouth when it was announced to the home fans that the Brazilian goalkeeper Neto had been named their man of the match.

Last season, Blues set a new club-record low in the Premier League era of 38 goals from as many matches. They have started 2023-24 bang on course to match that underwhelming feat: they have five goals in as many 2023-24 Premier League fixtures, and none in their past two.

Nobody can accuse them of not trying — Pochettino's side rank joint-fourth in the division for total shots (81). The problem is the accuracy: Chelsea are second-bottom among the 20 clubs when it comes to the difference between their expected goals (xG) figure and the actual number of goals scored, and third-worst for shot conversion percentage.

Yes, Chelsea are missing players – 12 of them, in fact, as Pochettino pointed out while defending his team after they were booed off at the end by a section of the travelling support. But at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday, Chelsea contrived to miss in almost every conceivable way and it leaves Pochettino – who has now not won any of his last 14 away games as a Premier League manager with them and previous employers Tottenham – with a major headache.

We take a closer look at what happened to Chelsea in the final third against Bournemouth.

Poor technique

There were many examples of this, but nothing summed up how clumsy Chelsea players look when the opposition goal looms into view than Nicolas Jackson's spectacular miss early in the second half.

It was not a golden opportunity, but it will still make a highlights reel of embarrassing moments when the season reviews are being compiled next spring.

Midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu slid a ball through for the Senegal international to run onto in the 53rd minute. The angle was tight, so much so that taking a shot from that position always seemed ambitious. It did not stop Jackson from having a swing with his left foot, though.

The ball ended up high in the stands, and embarrassingly wide of the target; as he lost his balance and fell over while his shot whistled into the crowd, Jackson looked like Superman flying in the air before crashing to Earth.

Taking too long

If only Conor Gallagher had made a connection sooner.

Yes, the manner of Neto's save low to his right played a part in his selection as man of the match, but what a chance the England midfielder had in the 34th minute.

Perhaps he was in shock that Mykhailo Mudryk had successfully found him with a good ball inside the area — Gallagher was certainly very vocal toward the Ukrainian early on about the quality of a cross from the byline.

On this occasion, Gallagher hesitated a fraction, let the ball run across him and uncorked a shot that was not placed far enough in the corner. It gave Neto the advantage, and he made the most of it.

Sloppiness and taking the wrong option

As Chelsea began to run out of ideas in the latter stages of the match, the lack of confidence became more evident.

In the 69th minute, Gallagher was carrying the ball with intent towards Bournemouth's penalty area. There was a simple pass to be made inside to Jackson, but he played it behind the forward, so the pace went out of the attack. To make matters worse, Jackson then lost possession far too easily when attempting a very lazy pass.

A little later, Cole Palmer provided evidence that it has not taken long for Chelsea's shooting struggles to afflict him following his deadline-day move from Manchester City just over two weeks ago.

Pochettino sent on Palmer, bought for a mere £40million (plus a potential £2.5m in add-ons), three minutes past the hour. Not long after, he opted not to shoot when a promising position opened up, while two attempts he did get off – one through a defender's legs and a first-time volley from Raheem Sterling's cross – were blocked and saved respectively.

Failing to anticipate

A top team always finds a way to get the ball over the line at some point, even when they are not at their best.

Sometimes it takes getting the better of a goalmouth scramble. In the 65th minute, neither Jackson nor Levi Colwill could get the vital touch when they were just a few yards out, allowing Neto to make yet another save:

It wasn't a glaring blunder, but it underlined that Chelsea still struggle to anticipate where balls are likely to drop in goalmouth melees.

Having a player with sharper scoring instincts may well have made the difference.

The unlucky miss

Chelsea have not had much good fortune on their side recently, and this game could have been so different if they had not hit the woodwork twice.

First, there was a Jackson shot from outside the area in the 13th minute — the timing seems fitting considering their bad luck — which hit the outside of a post and went wide. The effort was not cleanly hit but Neto was helpless as the ball bobbled past him.

Even more agonising was Sterling's free kick five minutes into the second half, which seemed to strike the crossbar and the post before bouncing down onto the line — it was only millimetres from all of the ball being over the whitewash:

The ball did rebound to Colwill to 'score', but the England defender (No 26) was rightly denied a first Chelsea goal because he was offside when Sterling hit the initial shot:

Chelsea fans are certainly making their feelings known.

Chants of “Attack, attack, attack!” were heard in the first half yesterday, and then boos were audible after the final whistle.

There is no crisis yet, but the crowd's impatience to see their team score, let alone win, will surely come to the fore when Aston Villa come to Stamford Bridge next Sunday.

Tell us why Chelsea are having troubles scoring goals in your opinion!