Monday 25 February 2019

Mepham looks the part to fit in at AFCB

It was never going to be easy for Chris Mepham to find his way into AFCB's starting line up. He may have not been expecting to get a chance so soon, but Steve Cook's injury gave him a great opportunity and I thought he had a find match against Wolves.
Mepham was impressive against Wolves.
Playing alongside Nathan Aké worked quite well for Mepham. He did have a few moments when he perhaps got the wrong side of Jota, but in the main he was very self-controlled and didn't flap when put under pressure. The handball incident was fortunate for Bournemouth as Roger East could have given a penalty, but sometimes a bit of luck is helpful to settle the nerves and Mepham didn't look back after that.

We also saw Chris go on a super little run passing a few players towards the end of the first half when he really stretched his legs. While Eddie Howe said that Mepham isn't yet aware of how AFCB like to play in certain situations, Mepham can certainly dictate play himself and is comfortable in taking the ball all the way out of defence and into midfield.



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While Steve Cook might not be out for long, it would be good to see more of Mepham. If Eddie Howe can quickly get him up to Premier League level, it can only be good for the overall depth of the squad. Mepham will be on a big learning curve at the moment and the games don't get much bigger than Arsenal and Man City, which he could well be involved in.

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