Monday 8 May 2017

We rather like seeing Fraser play as a striker

While I know Eddie Howe will rest his players from time to time and will protect some of the younger players, like Ryan Fraser, from burnout, I was a bit disappointed to only see him on the bench on Saturday. Fraser has had a terrific impact on the Cherries season and I like seeing him play as much as possible. The bonus that we did get though was to see Fraser play through the middle, rather than on the wings and this really excites me.
Ryan Fraser has been superb this season and he may yet get a few more goals.
Ryan Fraser is not of course a tall player and coming up against big central defender is probably rather difficult for him, as he will end up coming off worst when he runs into them regularly. But Ryan is talented enough to whizz past them and get them turning, which is precisely what AFCB needed to get behind the Stoke City defence. His bursts of speed are just not something that Ryan Shawcross or Bruno Martins Indi wanted to see. Ryan can twist and turn and go either way, so he is twice as effective when he plays behind the main forward in my opinion and the game really comes alive when he gets on the ball, as you know he has only one intention, to run at the defence and create problems.



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The Cherries had to utilise their attacking players in some unorthodox positions to where we are used to seeing them, as they simply don't have a clone of Callum Wilson or Benik Afobe on the bench. The wingers are plenty in number, but Max Gradel and Junior Stanislas also found themselves popping up in central positions as the game progressed, as it is an area that has to be filled with energy and intensity. I do see that AFCB could play much more with their attackers interchanging across a front three in the future, as they have King, Stanislas and Fraser who are particularly good at playing together and it would be of interest to see how they would do in a 4-3-3 formation when needs arise.

Eddie is a lover of his wing backs though, and his trusted system which does pile pressure on the opposition. Sometimes though seeing players absent through injury does allow him to change things around and Ryan Fraser terrorising defences through the middle is a sight that I'd like to see more of in the future.

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