There is every likelihood that Jack Simpson will line up for AFCB against Wigan on Saturday in the FA Cup third round. For all the business that the club has done for this season, the emergence of Jack Simpson as a first team player has to be the best bit of player development that AFCB will do this season.
What I am not sure about is how fast Howe will push Simpson to make more Premier League appearances. It is not usually Howe's want to give youngsters more than a handful of games in their first season in the first team, and we have seen Baily Cargill get near the levels of Simpson only to be farmed out on loan. How long AFCB can keep such players on their books is going to be the test for the club as much as the players, but at the moment everything must feel fantastic for Simpson at AFCB. He has played against the league leaders already and done well in league cup games, so the match against Wigan should not cause him any worries.
Advertisement
In the long term though he has to challenge the likes of Steve Cook and Nathan Aké for a place in the team. It is amazing that he has got to that stage so quickly, but with Tyrone Mings having a long term injury the door of opportunity has really opened for Jack and it doesn't look like it will close soon. The difficulty for Howe now is in finding enough games for the young centre-back.
 |
| Jack has fitted in seamlessly when called upon for the first team. |
Last summer AFCB were short of centre-backs and with Marc Wilson going to Sunderland and Nathan Aké coming into the squad, Eddie Howe probably though that he had plenty of cover with Tyrone Mings, Steve Cook and Simon Francis. So the emergence of Jack Simpson is a bit of a bonus and from what I have seen from the lad he is one of the most comfortable centre-backs I've seen playing from the back and I imagine a lot of that is helped in the fact that he used to play further forward in midfield.
What I am not sure about is how fast Howe will push Simpson to make more Premier League appearances. It is not usually Howe's want to give youngsters more than a handful of games in their first season in the first team, and we have seen Baily Cargill get near the levels of Simpson only to be farmed out on loan. How long AFCB can keep such players on their books is going to be the test for the club as much as the players, but at the moment everything must feel fantastic for Simpson at AFCB. He has played against the league leaders already and done well in league cup games, so the match against Wigan should not cause him any worries.
Advertisement
With Mings injured, we actually have very little cover in central defence. What is more, it appears AFCB are increasingly reliant on the talents of Ake, who has made numerous last ditch recoveries this season. Also, Francis looked more comfortable at right back - with Adam Smith very effective on left midfield in the second half at Brighton.
ReplyDeleteI am somewhat surprised Cargill has not been recalled from Fleetwood Town.
Francis is consistently Bournemouth biggest problem. He's always very hesitant to tackle and is the cause of many goals this season. He's such an obvious weak spot to the defence, yet he's the captain!?.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Francis rarely tackles. It's very strange. I hope Ibe gets a chance up front while the other forwards are injured. I miss Gradel, he was undoubtedly our best winger.
ReplyDeleteYes, he's hesitant to tackle, however, he's good at going forward on the wing. He's been a fantastic player for Bournemouth over the years. Eddie Howe bonds with his players more than most managers and obviously struggles to makes changes for fear of upsetting players, therefore, it's unlikely you'll see any real changes until the new season. Credit to Howe and Francis for what they've done for the club though. Hopefully next year we'll have two more defenders and a holding central midfielder. Glad to see Bournemouth are finally playing their old football again over the last few weeks. We were becoming uncharacteristically boring and fearful of opponents, but now it seems we're back on track and it's paying off!
ReplyDelete