Listening to Eddie Howe in his post-match report after the defeat against Crystal Palace, he didn't sound like he was going to rip up the playing manual to find a better way for Bournemouth to win games. He didn't point towards more than a few signings to strengthen the team, but he sees that the players he has can do better with better mental preparation to iron out the inconsistencies we have seen this season.
Bournemouth took until the latter part of the season to find their comeback button and their full desire to achieve rather than feel that results were simply going against them. It is that mental weakness that Howe sees as a crucial challenge to overcome. Whether Bournemouth can do better, if they find they get a fast start next season, we will wait to see. But when the fixtures come out, the fans will look and see whether the games point towards starting high or low in the league next season.
If Bournemouth had romped away to a big win against Crystal Palace, some of the weaknesses of the team might have been looked over. But now we all know that Bournemouth need to find more if they are to finish higher in this league. But by blooding younger players this season, it may be that AFCB are already preparing better for the future.
In other news, AFCB organise pre-season friendly with Lazio on Friday 2 August at 7.45pm.
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| Eddie Howe picks apart last season. |
How much can you do to make sure your team is mentally strong? It's down to learning from the mistakes and that is what Eddie will plan to do over the summer. It is difficult to see how Bournemouth could have made a better start to the season and for whatever reason the confidence went when they came off that initial run. It was then a battle with injuries and getting points on the road.
Bournemouth took until the latter part of the season to find their comeback button and their full desire to achieve rather than feel that results were simply going against them. It is that mental weakness that Howe sees as a crucial challenge to overcome. Whether Bournemouth can do better, if they find they get a fast start next season, we will wait to see. But when the fixtures come out, the fans will look and see whether the games point towards starting high or low in the league next season.
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In other news, AFCB organise pre-season friendly with Lazio on Friday 2 August at 7.45pm.
The main reason we had such a strong start to the season was the fixture schedule - only one top 6 team until November, when every other match was a top 6 fixture!
ReplyDeleteLosing to teams who were in the relegation zone also hastened our subsequent decline - Burnley, Newcastle, Cardiff and Fulham !
I agree. We had an easy start and then psychologically took it easy against only average sides. I actually think we should 'man up' and get tougher with the opposition,starting with Eddie. You're too nice and that transfers to the team. We are becoming a 'soft touch' and it shows in our results. Start kicking arse Eddie, no more Mr Nice Guy!
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