Thursday, 7 December 2017

Dropping points from winning positions

There was a stat that I was not too keen to see after the draw with Southampton. Bournemouth have apparently dropped more points in home games from winning positions than any other team except for WBA this season, according to reporters on the BBC. To drop points to Man City and Southampton at home having had the lead in those games has not crippled Bournemouth's season though, and they were not the worst performances that team has had this season.
Simon Francis talks with Fraser Forster after the Southampton game.
The match against the Saints was not a disappointing result or a game that was thrown away, it was a point recovered by Southampton. For Bournemouth to have been ahead in this game was a positive and I think vitally necessary for them to have got something out of the game. The problem has not been so much in losing games from winning positions, as in not getting enough leads in home games in the first place.

In fact, getting good performances from the outset is something I've been banging the drum about for some time. It may be that we are starting to see this happen now. The change in personnel in the last game did change the approach and Fraser and Stanislas were good at trying to force the pace on the wings. Southampton still attacked well in the first 20 minutes and there is a hesitancy that remains in Bournemouth's play in the early part of games.

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I lost count at the amount of times when Charlie Daniels looked for someone to throw the ball to from the touchline in the opening half hour and struggled to let go of the ball. All that hesitancy can only put players on edge, but the players have to move into spaces and being decisive and knowing that you are on the same wavelength as colleagues is crucial if you want to retain possession.

Bournemouth will have other games where they lose leads but at least they are starting to take games to the opposition. This is a better way to approach games that trying to make comebacks as we have seen in the last week with games such as the Arsenal v Man Utd match. Getting a goal up should help the players and settle them, and the way Bournemouth kept Southampton out for the first 15 minutes of the second half we might have hoped that all would end well. But AFCB have only scored twice in a game or more in two matches at home so far this season (Brighton and Huddersfield) and that may be the real stat that needs to be addressed. 

ASK Fans' Match Preview by Cherry Chimes - Crystal Palace v AFCB

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