The question of whether the Cherries have enough quality to see them safely through a second Premier League season suddenly seems apparent, after an ineffectual outing against Crystal Palace that left them just seven points off the relegation zone.
Home defeats will see teams relegated if they continue at this stage of the season. Eddie Howe has been able to rely on reasonable home form to see the Cherries keep their distance from the teams in major trouble, but Dean Court is no longer a venue that is ensuring the Cherries perform at their best. The shadow of the team that saw AFCB make a stirring comeback against Liverpool was nowhere to be seen on Tuesday night. The players that Eddie had consigned to the subs bench for not keeping the team on winning ways in previous game were needed to try and install some get up and go in the side for the second half against Palace. Encouraging though it was to see Jordan Ibe come on and make progress against Palace's back line, the player that I thought might come closest to scoring was Steve Cook.
While it was perhaps not healthy to have players hanging on that were not getting in the squad, there have been no replacements for Lewis Grabban, Marc Wilson or Emerson Hyndman. Now Eddie Howe needs the players to start defying the odds and get these last few wins to ensure another Premier League season. The training ground has to provide the answers as he has to go with what squad he has now after a disappointing January transfer window.
Emerson Watch
Emerson Hyndman rattled in a second Rangers goal last night even though Rangers were well beaten 4-1 by Hearts.
 |
| The Cherries need to halt their slide soon. |
Advertisement
What does that say about the Cherries? They are not only finding it hard to stop goals at their won end but are out of sorts themselves in front of goal. The luckless Jack Wilshere may wonder if he should shoot more often, as he usually makes the keeper have to make a save, but the quality of AFCB's forward play in recent weeks has been largely allowed to go unnoticed because the side has been letting in two or three goals a game.
While it was perhaps not healthy to have players hanging on that were not getting in the squad, there have been no replacements for Lewis Grabban, Marc Wilson or Emerson Hyndman. Now Eddie Howe needs the players to start defying the odds and get these last few wins to ensure another Premier League season. The training ground has to provide the answers as he has to go with what squad he has now after a disappointing January transfer window.
Emerson Watch
Emerson Hyndman rattled in a second Rangers goal last night even though Rangers were well beaten 4-1 by Hearts.
The answer to this question is "basically, yes", but it probably won't be straightforward. Brady will be a top addition for Burnley - but Bournemouth already have similar players to this.
ReplyDeleteThe upcoming fixture list looks daunting - but AFCB have a habit of upsetting the odds - and then falling down when expected to pick up points. Palace were due a win, so this result didn't really surprise me.