Allsop's indecisiveness could become costly

I was very anxious watching Ryan Allsop against Blackburn Rovers. Any player can have a bad game, but this performance had me worried for the future. It is clear that Eddie Howe has instructed his goalkeepers to role out the ball to his defenders or midfield players as soon as they can. The difficulty that Allsop seems to have is in releasing the ball quickly and seeing who is on first. While his distribution has been praised in the past, he struggled for most of the game at the weekend.

A great shot stopper but Allsop has to work on other aspects of his game.

It was interesting to see Daryll Flahavan warm up on the touch line as soon as Allsop had seen his clearance charged down by Leon Best in the first few minutes of the Blackburn game. It was not to warn Ryan that his position was under threat but to give him a word of confidence that we were all behind him and to get his concentration levels up. That kind of team spirit should stand the Cherries in good stead. There will be games when personal errors win and lose games for teams.

On shot stopping I don't think there is much to fear about Ryan's performances. He is doing okay when the odds are against him as well. For instance, when Jordan Rhodes was coming at him one-on one with Ward in close pursuit, he stood up to the challenge and kept Rhodes out. There were times though when he did not come for crosses and that is something that he also needs to get better at.

Ryan, Cookie's on! No, it's too late now.

I'd like to see a more confident Ryan who comes and calls for the ball and basically bosses his defenders. The fact that he is young and is learning his role means that he is not quite there yet. I am sure that is one of the reasons why Flahavan was important to keep at the club as far as Eddie Howe was concerned. If Ryan can't pick up his form then Darryl may well have to step in. The fact that AFCB have shipped six goals in their last two matches suggests that not everything is right at the back and while you can point to Charlie Daniels not being around and changing systems perhaps complicating things, it has always been AFCB's principle to play out from the back. If the players don't feel confident receiving the ball from Ryan and are making mistakes because of it we could see a change in keeper in the next few games.

Eddie Howe though will want to keep Ryan in the team because it is the best place where he can learn. The yellow card count and Ryan's need to think a bit quicker when he has the ball are worries that Howe could do without, but they exist and it's a matter of dealing with the problems. With a few good games Ryan can get over this. I just hope it doesn't become costly for the team.