The solo performance of Asmir Begovic has been great in recent matches. He certainly saved a point or more against Southampton and he was at his best to get the clean sheet against Watford. Seeing Artur Boruc in goal for the cup games is really the only way we have of comparing goalkeepers, like Eddie Howe will do in training. But Asmir has clearly set his standards higher this season and AFCB are benefiting from that.
A year longer with basically the same back four has got to have made things easier for Asmir. He comes for crosses again now, like he did when he first few games of last season and as the confidence grows, he's starting to make really good decisions. The save he never had to make against Charlie Austin in the first half of the Southampton match was perhaps one of his best moments of the season. It would have been a goal in nine out of 10 occasions perhaps, but Asmir got his timing and angles right to make it too hard for Austin to get round him.
The second half also saw Begovic highly involved in keeping Armstrong from scoring when he just had Asmir to beat. Far from thinking that he is going to get beaten, Asmir is being positive and making the forwards and midfielders have to make a decision themselves, and that is often all he needs to prevent them from getting a good sight of goal.
The other factor that I think is helping Begovic and the team is the concentration at corners. Bournemouth are not suffering from poor clearances or conceding too many corners. Instead they are looking to attack from them and see if they can make a break as soon as they have the ball under control. Making such moments into positives is helping the team to play in the front foot, and they always say the best form of defence is attack.
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| Begovic is keeping shots out and deserves praise for his season so far. |
The second half also saw Begovic highly involved in keeping Armstrong from scoring when he just had Asmir to beat. Far from thinking that he is going to get beaten, Asmir is being positive and making the forwards and midfielders have to make a decision themselves, and that is often all he needs to prevent them from getting a good sight of goal.
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The other factor that I think is helping Begovic and the team is the concentration at corners. Bournemouth are not suffering from poor clearances or conceding too many corners. Instead they are looking to attack from them and see if they can make a break as soon as they have the ball under control. Making such moments into positives is helping the team to play in the front foot, and they always say the best form of defence is attack.
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