Chelsea fell to a 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening, and their lack of goalscoring threat was again an issue.
Watch more brilliant snippets like this with fanatix’s FREE sports video news app
The reigning Premier League champions remain in 14th place in the table after losing eight of their first 15 games of the campaign, and while their defensive frailties are a problem too, Jose Mourinho will rightly be concerned with their inability to score goals consistently.
In fact, the Blues have scored just 17 goals so far this season, which is a tally that is significantly less than most of the teams in the top six and even less than how many goals under-fire Manchester United have scored to this point.
While the changing personnel arguably hasn’t helped the situation, the lack of bodies in the box, as shown in the clip above, is undoubtedly an issue. Diego Costa was left on the bench for the second game running on Saturday, although even the Spaniard’s presence didn’t help find a breakthrough against Eddie Howe’s men in the second half.
Naturally, the players will receive a significant part of the blame as it would have been seen by many as a lack of desire and determination to get into the box to get on the end of countless crosses from the likes of Willian and Eden Hazard.
However, the blame arguably also falls on Mourinho for his selections and tactics, with Hazard played up front again in a similar role to the one he was deployed in the goalless draw with Tottenham last weekend.
With the Belgian dropping deep or to the flanks in order to get the ball where he is more comfortable, it left the box completely devoid of a Chelsea presence which helped Bournemouth in keeping a clean sheet.
Whether it is Costa who returns on a more permanent basis, or another striker in the squad that is brought in, Mourinho will have to look at this problem and find a solution quickly.