Andrew Surman looks to be enjoying his time in the USA with his new team-mates even though some of them are after his starting position. While Andrew Surman will be pleased to see his name at the top of the stats kilometres run in the Premier League in 2015/16 his game is so much more than that. We know he has a distinct lack of goals on his record, but you won't find many players that make as many accurate passes and who initiates as many attacking moves for their side than Surman does.
His job is certainly to spot the runs of Callum Wilson, Josh King and Benik Afobe as soon as they are on the half turn and thinking ahead is not something that all players are gifted with, but Surman seems to read play better than most. There is safety as well when Surman usually gets on the ball. He's comfortable with it and enjoys shuffling play around and setting the tempo. So when he is out of the side there is quite a significant element missing and while AFCB did not suffer from that at all last season he is one of the players that Howe can least do without.
Does that mean Eddie should be looking for a back up for Surman's position? I'd have to say yes and he has perhaps thought of Emerson Hyndman eventually filling that role. A purposeful passer and a player with supreme vision are some of the qualities required for the position. Meanwhile, Nathan Aké might be more suitable as cover for Harry Arter with is strong tackling abilities. It is already going to be intriguing to see what team is set up against Minnesota United FC with Lewis Cook also having flown out to be with the team.
The value of Surman though is not missed but many AFCB fans. We'd love him to score a few more goals but to do that he has to shoot more often and get himself into those kind of positions. It was intriguing to see that in the second half of the season he did get to take more free kicks, but he still did not break his duck. Would I fancy him to score two goals next season? Probably not, but there is not many midfielders I would race to put in the side ahead of him and I think that is part of the reason why we haven't seen Andrew Surman miss any games in 2015-16.
Transfer news
AFCB look forward to welcoming Jordan Ibe who has his medical today at Dean Court.
The Bolton News is also reporting that AFCB have had a bid in excess of £1.5m turned down for England U21 and Bolton Wanderers defender Rob Holding. Arsenal are also said to be interested in the League One player.
His job is certainly to spot the runs of Callum Wilson, Josh King and Benik Afobe as soon as they are on the half turn and thinking ahead is not something that all players are gifted with, but Surman seems to read play better than most. There is safety as well when Surman usually gets on the ball. He's comfortable with it and enjoys shuffling play around and setting the tempo. So when he is out of the side there is quite a significant element missing and while AFCB did not suffer from that at all last season he is one of the players that Howe can least do without.
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| Andrew Surman will be put under more pressure to keep his place this coming season. |
The value of Surman though is not missed but many AFCB fans. We'd love him to score a few more goals but to do that he has to shoot more often and get himself into those kind of positions. It was intriguing to see that in the second half of the season he did get to take more free kicks, but he still did not break his duck. Would I fancy him to score two goals next season? Probably not, but there is not many midfielders I would race to put in the side ahead of him and I think that is part of the reason why we haven't seen Andrew Surman miss any games in 2015-16.
Transfer news
AFCB look forward to welcoming Jordan Ibe who has his medical today at Dean Court.
The Bolton News is also reporting that AFCB have had a bid in excess of £1.5m turned down for England U21 and Bolton Wanderers defender Rob Holding. Arsenal are also said to be interested in the League One player.
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