Etheridge could have brought a deck chair out against Bournemouth

Bournemouth had a lot of possession against Cardiff City. It was as much as 73 per cent according to the BBC website. Yet, Neil Etheridge had very little to do in the Cardiff goal. The stats point to just two shots on target from Bournemouth in the 90 minutes.

Etheridge didn't have to get his hands dirty against Bournemouth.

It is not that Bournemouth didn't try to work themselves up field. Surman's early shot that Etheridge saved to put on the bar was the best effort that Bournemouth had all match. You could count AFCB's chances on the odd finger or two, while Cardiff had bucket loads of opportunities to get their goals. There was a flatness about Bournemouth when they got over the half way line. We can say that Cardiff defended deep at times and hit the Cherries on the break with Niasse's and Murphy's pace, but the team didn't learn.

Making the possession work for you is what Bournemouth must do better. Howe wants possession football, so the team is doing some things right, but with and without the ball the Cherries were far from being at their best. Bournemouth have to make space in the attacking areas for the runs of Fraser and King and Solanke, but Surman often had to turn back and face his own goal when he found he couldn't make a forward pass to any of them.

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Whether Solanke will find he can adapt his game to fit with Bournemouth is something we will find out in the next few months. He looked like he needed more time to get an understanding with the other front players in this game. But it's early days and we want him and others to give keepers more problems than he gave Etheridge on this day.