Monday 16 January 2017

No spark in the Cherries as they fall behind

Eddie looked very concerned about the team's
inability to summon any fight once Hull had scored their first goal.
Eddie Howe was gutted that his side fund that they could not respond to going behind up at Hull City having set the pace for the first 30 minutes. It was perhaps hard to understand as his sides have always fought for everything they've got and yet coming up against this determined Hull City side they seemed to lose their pattern of play,  and I wonder of some of the Cherries' identity was lost as the game wore on.

By that I mean, the core players that have taken AFCB up the divisions have fought hard for each other and their manager and the bond has magnified itself. Yet, when major names are missing from the line up, it becomes difficult to pick up the tempo when there hasn't been great consistency in selection. It's hard to accept because the team had the perfect start against Hull, but there are basics that are not getting done. 

There is no shame in falling behind to teams that are playing well, but you need a response. You need team-mates to help pull you out of a fix and perhaps the side had been diluted a bit from the side that has battled through difficult periods before. Each defeat will teach the players something though and I still feel that the Hull result was a bit of a hangover from the Arsenal game. The effort was there in the early stages of the game, but it quickly disappeared when questions were asked of the team. From the moment Hull City went 1-1, there was no spark that the Cherries would recover from the turnaround when the score went to 2-1. 
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It was a downhill performance in terms of belief as the game went on. The substitutions of King and Wilson might have made a difference on another day, but they could not create anything. It was only Marc Pugh who did come on and looked like he was making inroads against Hull City. But you need 11 players with spark to mount a comeback and the other players were like wet matches on this occasion.

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