What's happening at half time in AFCB's games?

Looking back at the four Premier League matches that the Cherries have had there are many reasons to wonder what has been happening at the half time intervals. The Cherries have been on their game for the first half in every match so far, but when the half time whistle goes it has usually been fairly typical for the game's momentum to switch to the opposition.

It's the second half. Are we ready to go?

I am starting to wonder how big Tommy Elphick's voice is being missed in the dressing room. Someone has to be the catalyst to get players ready for the second half and to ensure that the heart rate is high and the energy is ready to go again, but if that was Tommy's job and the players no longer have that factor it may take a bit of time for the team to see what gets them fired up for that extra effort again when they have done a good job in the first half.

Against WBA I had a quick look at the stats, as I felt that the team was as dominant as it had been against Crystal Palace the game before in the first half then. You can see from the Infogram chart that AFCB came under more pressure in the second half in terms of shots and corners from WBA even if the possession did not change as much as I might have thought looking on. But if AFCB are a bit of a one half team, and they start strong, it is intriguing to note that of the three goals they have scored in the Premier League this season only one was in the first half and the other two came in the 69th and 79th minutes of games.

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In the match against Crystal Palace I'd hazard a guess that the stats were even more of a turnaround in the second half as Crystal Palace came on to the Cherries searching for their equaliser while the second half against West Ham was also played mainly in the Cherries' half. So there maybe needs to be some words said at half time that get the players more up for the challenge than we have seen in recent games. It is a two-sided game and any team is going to have some highs and lows during a game but there is a pattern of the Cherries needing to come out with a bit more to their game in the second 45 minutes.  Only those in the dressing room can really change that.

Note: Man City had their Champions League game against Borussia Monchengladbach delayed 24 hours until this evenung because of torrential rain in Manchester. Not great preparation for them or the pitch ahead of AFCB's game on Saturday.


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