sport news THINGS WE LEARNED as Chelsea beat Bournemouth in pre-season friendly

sport news THINGS WE LEARNED as Chelsea beat Bournemouth in pre-season friendly
sport news THINGS WE LEARNED as Chelsea beat Bournemouth in pre-season friendly

Chelsea continued their preparations for the new season with a 2-1 victory over Championship side Bournemouth on Tuesday night.

With nothing to separate the two teams in the first half, Emiliano Marcondes opened the scoring for Scott Parker's side with a fine close-range finish.

Armando Broja equalised just minutes later before fellow substitute Ike Ugbo completed the comeback for Thomas Tuchel's men.

Here, Sportsmail picks out six things we learned from the game at the Vitality Stadium. 

Armando Broja (right) and Ike Ugbo (left) both scored as Chelsea beat Bournemouth 2-1

Armando Broja (right) and Ike Ugbo (left) both scored as Chelsea beat Bournemouth 2-1

Tuchel still likes his 3-4-2-1

One of the most notable changes Thomas Tuchel made when he replaced Frank Lampard as manager was to ditch the back four and play wing backs on either side of three central defenders.

It immediately helped the Blues tighten things up at the back but also got the best out of N'Golo Kante and Jorginho in midfield. The move also freed up Mason Mount to play in one of those two positions behind the lone striker.

Playing as wing-backs also got the best out of Ben Chilwell and Reece James going forward, while it also injected Marcos Alonso with new life after he had been cast aside by Lampard. 

Based on Tuesday night's evidence, Tuchel looks likely to stick to the system that delivered Champions League glory and a top-four finish in the opening few weeks of the season.

The Blues opened talks with Sevilla for a move for Jules Kounde earlier in the day and he looks ideal to play in the right centre back role, which Cesar Azpilicueta played in towards the end of last season. 

Thomas Tuchel looks likely to stay with the preferred 3-4-2-1 system at the start of the season

Thomas Tuchel looks likely to stay with the preferred 3-4-2-1 system at the start of the season

Hudson-Odoi stuck at wing-back

If Callum Hudson-Odoi is to convince Tuchel that he belongs not at wing-back, but rather further forwards, then he needs to prove himself to be clinical in the final third. 

It was just after the 15-minute mark when the youngster had a great chance to open the scoring. Chelsea were able to break and Hakim Ziyech picked out the youngster on the right-hand side.

Admittedly it was a poor pass and forced Hudson-Odoi to slow before he could run at the Bournemouth defence but, after managing to work a yard of space, his effort was poor and straight at the goalkeeper.

He showed exactly what he can do 10 minutes later, though. Picked out by a superb switch of play, Hudson-Odoi stood his defender up before driving to the byline and crossing for Tammy Abraham, who really should have scored. 

Callum Hudson-Odoi played at wing back but missed a good chance with a tame finish early on

Callum Hudson-Odoi played at wing back but missed a good chance with a tame finish early on

Drinkwater can do a job 

Danny Drinkwater has not played competitively for Chelsea in three years and his chances of regular first-team football remain close to zero with Jorginho, Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount at the club. 

But, nonetheless, he gave a performance similar to those we became accustomed to seeing during his title-winning season with Leicester. He is desperately trying to win the support of Tuchel and did his chances no harm.

The 31-year-old started in the midfield pairing alongside Conor Gallagher. Be under no illusion, there were no breathtaking moments of skill or lung-busting runs but Drinkwater did exactly what was expected of him.

Drinkwater won the ball back when he needed to, took it from

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