Looking at the teams that are coming up from the Championship, there is a case for saying that that Premier League places will be harder fought for next season. Burnley, Middlesbrough and either Hull City are not the kind of teams to lay down easy. They are northern teams that will scrap and battle no matter what and it is a trait that perhaps AFCB will need to add to its game if the club is to have a successful 2016/17.
We have seen some games where the fight was not evident enough when AFCB played away at Norwich and at home against some top sides like Spurs, but in general the Cherries have taken games to the opposition. They will need to be just as combative or maybe even more so next season and the midfield area is probably where Eddie Howe sees pressure can be taken off of the defence. While it may be too difficult to find a younger Sylvain Distin who can dominate at the back, Eddie might be able to find more strength in midfield where Eunan O'Kane, Shaun Mac Donald and Dan Gosling have supported Andrew Surman and Harry Arter. The signing of Hyndman is a good start but Leed's Lewis Cook would add more bite in tackles which the side really lacks. If Leeds won't sell AFCB will ave to look elsewhere.
The gossip has been that AFCB are keen on turning to Spurs' midfielder Ryan Mason who has already won an England senior cap. His goal potential is not much better than Andrew Surman's but he has strong passing and tackling, arguably something that would give better balance to the Cherries. While the Evening Standard was touting £6m for the young midfielder in early May, the Daily Star is suggesting that a fee nearer to £2m could be secured and without the loss of Callum Wilson in any swap deal.
Building up a squad of potential England internationals is what I think Eddie Howe is looking to do with players like Wilson, Afobe and Smith. The midfield section is light though and there is space for grabbing some exciting new players that are on the edge of the England fold and we have seen with Harry Kane, Deli Ali and Marcus Rashford that the talent is around if you can find it early enough.
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| Do AFCB need more gritty midfield players and a meaner edge? |
The gossip has been that AFCB are keen on turning to Spurs' midfielder Ryan Mason who has already won an England senior cap. His goal potential is not much better than Andrew Surman's but he has strong passing and tackling, arguably something that would give better balance to the Cherries. While the Evening Standard was touting £6m for the young midfielder in early May, the Daily Star is suggesting that a fee nearer to £2m could be secured and without the loss of Callum Wilson in any swap deal.
Building up a squad of potential England internationals is what I think Eddie Howe is looking to do with players like Wilson, Afobe and Smith. The midfield section is light though and there is space for grabbing some exciting new players that are on the edge of the England fold and we have seen with Harry Kane, Deli Ali and Marcus Rashford that the talent is around if you can find it early enough.
Disagree.....if Wilson does not go and it is rumoured that West Ham still want him Afobe will not be a first choice and he will be very discontented very soon....Smith looks like a long term injury...don't quite see where a young 20 year old will fit in...apparently he has the physique of Luka Modric..if he can play like him...well that another matter....Eddies failings have been in the transfer market last year....apart from King you could hardly say anyone was a success...we have yet to see anything from Mings...and doubt whether we will until October/November....unfortunately in premier league terms we are minnows.....we need to build infrastructure:-
ReplyDeletea..increase the capacity of ground
b..upgrade the academy status..urgently
there is a kid that plays for Barnet called Stevens who has scored a sackful of goals might be worth a look at