I got the impression that the Christmas fixtures had rather caught up with Eddie Howe's squad against Spurs. The result against Brighton had been an important one, but the team just had little to offer up at Wembley and the difference in class was quite astonishing.
Whether the players had just run out of steam is difficult for us fans to judge, but it was not a normal gutsy Bournemouth performance. It was mediocre at best and it made me think what will Howe do against Man United after this performance? It was not unexpected that Bournemouth were going to lose the game, but the lack of control in defence and the ease at which Spurs got players into spaces to be able to shoot was far too simple.
I can't imagine Begovic got much out of the game and probably felt incredibly exposed. He did make a bit of a mess of the fifth goal, when he was on the ground with Kane and Danny Rose, and spilled Lucas Mora's shot, before Son Heng-Min was able to pick up the pieces. At that point Bournemouth had already resigned themselves to a heavy defeat and while there were only two goals in the second half, Spurs could have pressed the game harder to get more goals. Subbing Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen before the end was a measure of how far Spurs were ahead in every respect.
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| AFCB were hardly on the same level as Tottenham at Wembley. |
I can't imagine Begovic got much out of the game and probably felt incredibly exposed. He did make a bit of a mess of the fifth goal, when he was on the ground with Kane and Danny Rose, and spilled Lucas Mora's shot, before Son Heng-Min was able to pick up the pieces. At that point Bournemouth had already resigned themselves to a heavy defeat and while there were only two goals in the second half, Spurs could have pressed the game harder to get more goals. Subbing Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen before the end was a measure of how far Spurs were ahead in every respect.
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Bournemouth have to look at themselves and ask is this the kind of performance that a team vying for a top 10 finish can repeat against another top six team and feel confident that they are still going to hang on to a top half finish? I'd say not. And they have a big game up at Old Trafford against another in form team where they have to show considerably more than this performance.
Long term THFC supporter here(60yrs)...IMO BFC were nowhere near as bad as the score indicated and with some luck could have scored not a few themselves. Howe tried to play football, unlike most non top 6 clubs, and that means he will win occasionally vs the top 6 but a hiding is always possible. IMO that is extremely courageous as he could just put 10 behind the ball like so many other PL clubs do. This result means nothing as the way that BFC play will enable them to win more than lose. All IMHO : Happy New Year!
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