Can Defoe find the goals he promised?

The first thing Jermain Defoe has to do is get more minutes on the pitch which is proving tricky with Lys Mousset jumping ahead of him. But Jermain has the talent to push pass people himself in training and if he really wants to have an outside shot at going to the next World Cup he has to get into the AFCB starting line very soon.

Defoe is running out of time to make an impression for Gareth Southgate.

Jermain can do his job from the bench as well and it must be quite a comforting fallback for Eddie Howe to know he has Jermain eager to get on and play his part. Looking at the previous few games Eddie Howe can't say that any of the strikers are bang in form. If any of the strikers can be said to be finding the net it is Josh King, but even he was not fit enough to play 90 minutes last weekend.

So when does it become necessary to pick Defoe? I think if Wilson does not do well against WBA he may find he is due a spell on the bench. Whether Bournemouth would benefit from a change now or in a couple of games time is hard to tell. It has to be Howe's instinct as to who he feels is sticking away the goals in training and who is feeling most confident.

Advertisement

Broom Hill Garden Buildings

It has been 12 league games since AFCB failed to score in a league match which was against Man City so AFCB have been carrying a goal threat, but in four of those games the Cherries have only scored one goal, even if they collect two points from those four games. What I like about Jermain Defoe is that he is a striker that does not think his job is done when he has scored once. He is a constant predator and if he can get himself in front of goal we all know he is capable of getting on a roll.

Callum Wilson and Josh King have not played badly, but Howe must make sure he picks the strikers that are going to score now as AFCB's season could depend on it.