A few more leaders needed when the cards are down

I am not sure that heads went down when Millwall got back into the game with their first goal in the second half on Saturday, but I didn't see enough leadership from the players to fill me with confidence that they were going to hold out for a 2-1 win. It was much different against Ipswich, because I thought that the Cherries would be strong enough to hold out. The Ipswich draw probably knocked the confidence a bit which gave the players more of a uncomfortable thought that Millwall were likely to get another, just like the week before. 

The Cherries will be looking deep within
themselves to find some answers after teams have
 pulled them back after being in winning positions. 

In that instance I wanted players like Tommy Elphick, Steve Cook and Andrew Surman to start yelling at players to be more gritty and fight for everything to keep Millwall out. Instead we saw the team try and defend deep and react rather than try and make something happen by being positive and passing their way to a win. The removal of Harry Arter and then Yann Kermorgant was maybe a signal to Millwall as well that now was the time to throw everything forward and it worked for them.

For all Arter's industry and determination he is seen as a leader and I did not think that he was the only reason for Bournemouth losing some their influence in the second half. A change was certainly needed on 60 minutes as Millwall were on top, but maybe the experience of Dan Gosling would have been better to introduce, while Fraser 12 minutes but made an impact with a pass that could have led to AFCB going 3-1 up. It is important that the team has lots of leadership on the pitch at any one moment and it can't just be down to Tommy Elphick to keep spirits up and the team going forward.

Against Wolves, AFCB will certainly need 11 leaders as Molineux is no place for the faint hearted, and AFCB will need to be at their very best for 90 plus minutes.