Reboundability is a made-up word— “All the words are made up!” -often attributed to shakespeare Iain Dowie used the term almost twenty years ago when he was Crystal Palace manager. Of course, he didn’t actually invent it; He just made it pop.
Anyway, resilience is…well, you know…the ability to bounce back after a setback or failure. Not all great teams possess this ability, but it is inherent in all great teams. The NFL’s Detroit Lions defeated the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, marking their fifteenth consecutive (15th!) victory after a loss. That’s the most outstanding rebounding ability to match a league record, and it’s no surprise that the Lions have been one of the NFL’s best teams over this stretch (the past three seasons).
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Now it’s Chelsea’s turn. Can we ever recover from Wednesday night’s horror show at Elland Road?
Date/Time: Saturday, December 6, 2025 15:00 GMT; 10am ET; 8:30pm EST
Place: Dean Court, Bournemouth
referee: Michael Oliver (on the pitch); Craig Pawson (VAR)
forecast: The wind blows and the rain hits your face, it’s so wonderful
On TV: None (UK); None (US); Star Sports Select HD2 (India); SuperSport Action, Canal+ Sport 5 (NGA); Elsewhere
Streaming media: None (UK); Peacock (US); JioHotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)
AFC Bournemouth Team News: The Cherries started the season strongly but have now gone five without a win and lost four after an eight-game unbeaten run saw them move into the upper reaches of the table. They’ve conceded 15 goals in these five games, so it’s obvious where the problem lies. It certainly doesn’t help that our old friend Đorđe Petrović hasn’t quite covered himself in glory – he’s the worst goalkeeper in the league at PSxG +/- – although he currently retains his starting spot.
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Still, Bournemouth’s continued success last season was impressive, especially considering they lost £200m worth of players in the summer. Dean Huijsen, Milos Kerkez and Illia Zabarnyi were poached by the likes of Real Madrid, Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain respectively, while Dango Ouattara joined Brentford at the end of the transfer window. Those arriving won’t exactly replace those who left, but top scorer Antoine Semenho is expected to have a career year, while teenager Crupi made an immediate impact after returning from a loan spell in Ligue 2 last year with 22 goals in 30 games (he scored three goals in his first two Premier League starts).
Newcomers Ben Doak and Veljko Milosavljevic have been ruled out, while Ryan Christie is dealing with a knee problem. The two big absences for the home side will be defenders Lewis Cook and Moisés Caicedo, who is serving the second of a three-game red card suspension, and almost-Chelsea player Tyler Adams, who is suspended for accumulating yellow cards. He’ll be a great fit!
Chelsea team news: There are no new injuries for the Blues (so Levi Colwell, Dario Esuguo and Romeo Lavia are the only players missing), although as mentioned, Caicedo remains suspended and Cole Palmer is just back to fitness.
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Enzo Maresca has been showing some tough love to (certain) players in the media, so hopefully this will be rewarded with the right response from the team: bounce back ability!
“Most of the rotations we made were because they couldn’t play another game. But […] In football, in life, in any job, there is a level. Andre [Santos] Unfortunately not Moe [Caicedo]. Tosin is not Wes. They have different skills. They are different.
“If I say to you Andre is like Moe, you yourself will see that I’m a liar. There is a level to all jobs. Just like me. A lot of managers are better than me. Some are not. But there is a level to all jobs. So, for me, [this] That’s reality. “
“We are in a process where we are trying to understand and understand why, for example, at Leeds United we were not good enough. I don’t know if the solution is to have 12 or 14 players and the rest just play a few minutes. But we are trying to understand. If today you play every three days, like now, with 11 players, I don’t know [if it’s possible].
“I want to play Rhys [James] every game. He is much better. He’s already playing two games a week, he needs to aim for three games a week. So he has improved in that regard. But I also hope Moe doesn’t get suspended and Wes doesn’t get suspended every game. “
-Enzo Maresca; Source: The Standard
So, those who are picked for this game will be better at delivering, and those who are not, better at stepping up their game.
Before: Bournemouth were a bit of a bogey team for us for a while but we haven’t lost in our last seven games against them, winning four of them. Last year’s game was decided by a late Christopher Nkunku goal after Robert Sanchez saved Evan Nelson’s penalty in the first half.
