Eddie Howe was not looking for excuses when the final whistle blew at Southampton. A dismal performance was met with a 2-1 score line that has put a reality check on the way AFCB fans feel about their team. Just when the Cherries needed a bit of momentum coming to the end of the season, they have suddenly hit reverse gear.
The defenders as a whole need to sort out who is best to keep back and while they like to rotate the duty there are clearly some who are more comfortable than others at guarding breakaways. The annoying thing is that AFCB didn't seem to be in too much danger from what Southampton were creating, the best chances were made by AFCB being sloppy. Steve Cook's moment to forget was just another incident when a lack of concentration proved costly. Even then the other defenders backed off and didn't get a challenge in on Dusan Tadic, giving him a clear pathway to goal.
A few home truths will need to be said this week. The players are not at the races and they had better find a way to get back on track fast because if they think the season is over they may find that other results don't go their way.
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| End of the match at St Mary's and three more points escape the Cherries. |
The comments after the match don't make the solutions seem easy to find. If Bournemouth are shooting themselves in the foot they can only look to themselves for the mistakes and find away to cut out the errors. After having a full season of games it's hard to believe that the team still hasn't worked out what they need to do to stop breaks when they have a corner themselves at the other end. You can say it was over confidence to push everyone up in the opening 20 minutes or complete madness not to have better cover. But when Southampton broke and Bournemouth left Charlie Daniels isolated, like a lame duck at the back, there was only going to be one outcome. Daniels legs have been questioned on more than one occasion this season and he is not the quickest anymore. Perhaps this will sink in now.
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A few home truths will need to be said this week. The players are not at the races and they had better find a way to get back on track fast because if they think the season is over they may find that other results don't go their way.
Cherry Chimes' Newsletter - out tomorrow
Cherry Chimes' May Newsletter brings you the best stories on the blog and the thoughts behind them from last month. It's out today with special story - Only points against the top six have kept AFCB away from WBA and Stoke City
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It seems the defenseive issue coincide with Smith being out for a good part of 2018. Cook and Francis make mistakes way to often to be on the field together, but who can take their places right now. I hope to see some new faces starting next season.
ReplyDeleteA loss on Saturday will make for a really tense final game. Let's hope they play with some fire this week for the first time in a more than a month.