Watch and learn, kids. The day began with one for the youth audience, Cole Palmer appearing on a live stream to explain the thinking behind his latest contract extension, and it ended with the oldest player to join Chelsea during the BlueCo era stealing the show with an all-action midfield display in a 5-1 win over Bournemouth.
The Age of Henderson is under way. There was a time when the idea of a 36-year-old starting in midfield for the Chelsea constructed by Clearlake Capital was impossible to imagine, but not any more. The vibe changed when Xabi Alonso joined as manager last summer, leading to a shift in transfer strategy, and the benefit of placing more faith in experience was on show as Jordan Henderson marked his home debut by decorating an excellent performance with two spectacular goals and an assist for Morgan Rogers.
The sense is that Chelsea, who are up to fifth, are better off with Henderson’s leadership. The former Liverpool captain was a surprise signing from Brentford but is determined to make his presence felt. The veteran set the tone against Bournemouth, offering aggression in midfield, and was key to the side’s first league win in four games. Henderson opened the scoring in the second minute and later bent in a free-kick to leave Palmer in the shade.
Part of the appeal with Palmer is the shrugging nonchalance. Existing in the limelight does not come easily to the 24-year-old and, while he may not wish to come across as Kevin the Teenager, it did feel on brand when Chelsea’s No10 merely mustered an embarrassed nod after spotting his family by the tunnel when the teams emerged before kick-off.
Then again Palmer had a point to prove after having his desire to play for England questioned by Thomas Tuchel last month. His impact was immediate, although it owed much to Bournemouth’s overly ambitious setup. The visitors lined up in an open 4-4-2 formation, with Rayan close to Evanilson in attack, and it must have been bewildering for Marco Rose to watch his players give Palmer so much space when he sauntered down the right in the first minute.
It was good to see Palmer moving freely, especially after Alonso’s admission that the playmaker’s decision to sit out the international break was related to the groin pain that dogged him last season. It helps, mind you, when the opposition players just jog alongside admiringly. No Bournemouth player made a challenge, leaving Palmer to tee up Henderson, who ran on to the pass and bent a beautiful shot in off the right post from 25 yards.
There were 68 seconds on the clock when Henderson became Chelsea’s oldest scorer in the Premier League since John Terry in May 2017. It was another fast start from Alonso’s side and they wanted more. They pushed again in the third minute, Palmer’s flick freeing Pedro Neto to test Djordje Petrovic, and the intensity paid off. Bournemouth were overwhelmed, unable to clear their lines and contemplating a long afternoon when they turned possession over on the edge of the area, Henderson zapped a sharp pass out to the left and Rogers cut inside to curl a shot into the far corner thanks to a deflection off António Silva.
Chelsea had more stability with Henderson alongside Moisés Caicedo in midfield. Caicedo, starting for the first time in four Premier League games, was missed during his absence with a calf injury. His return tipped the balance in Chelsea’s favour and switched the focus to Bournemouth’s long list of absentees. Justin Kluivert and Eli Junior Kroupi are big losses in attack while Alex Scott, who was the subject of multiple bids from Chelsea last summer, is out for two months after exacerbating a thigh problem during a scintillating display for England against Croatia last weekend.
These are worrying times for Bournemouth, who are winless in the league since replacing Andoni Iraola. They are just above the bottom three and struggled without Scott’s energy and quality in midfield. They had chances before half-time, Ryan Christie, Rayan and Silva drawing fine saves from Emiliano Martínez, but their defence wobbled and it was hard to understand their reluctance to play a cannier game.
It suited Chelsea for a basketball game to develop. There were echoes of past battles between Alonso and Rose in the Bundesliga. Yet Rose, who ended Alonso’s 35-game unbeaten run with Bayer Leverkusen when he was RB Leipzig manager, was naive to think Bournemouth could beat Chelsea at their own game.
Bournemouth had to be harder to beat and there was more iffy defending at the start of the second half. Silva tried and failed to run the ball behind for a goal-kick, only for Neto to nip in and cross for João Pedro to clip a rising shot into the roof of the net.
The only frustration for Alonso was Chelsea’s run without a clean sheet in the league extending to a 22nd game. Bournemouth pulled one back in the 51st minute, Evanilson scrambling the ball in from a corner, but there would be no comeback.
The fourth goal arrived when Rogers found the overlapping Pep Chavarría, whose low cross was gobbled up by João Pedro. Alonso, who had become increasingly frantic on the touchline, relaxed. He was a great midfielder in his day and will have appreciated the technique when Henderson stood over a free-kick, sized up the angles with Palmer and then bent another splendid effort into the top corner.
