While we may have thought that Bournemouth would be challenging for European places after the fist couple of months of last season, the reality is that the payers came up short of what they and perhaps supporters felt was possible. There are reasons for the drop off in performances, but how far are Bournemouth away from being a side that could finish seventh or eight in the Premier League?
I believe AFCB are still three or more players off of a team that could challenge for an outside European place like Wolves, Watford and Everton were fighting for last season. Bournemouth have a strong first team when everyone is fit, but we soon saw how the team can fail to register any wins when there were two or three injuries to key players. Bournemouth have to strengthen this summer in several key positions in my opinion, but Howe is set on gradual regeneration rather than revolution which could mean the signing of just two or three players, while more could leave the club.
The size of the job that AFCB's recruitment staff will have over the summer will become clear in the next few weeks, when we see who is being released and how much of the squad is staying put. Bringing in players to push AFCB into a higher league position is far from simple. AFCB have tried big names like Defoe and Begovic and AFCB have also gambled on relatively unproven players like David Brooks and Chris Mepham. Bournemouth's budget is not as big as we'd like to think, and it highlights where we are in terms of recruitment and league standing when Bournemouth are linked with Ademola Lookman, who couldn't get much of a game at Everton, a team that AFCB are trying to catch up with.
So the finish of 14th in the league was a fair reflection of where AFCB are in my opinion. AFCB will have better seasons with fewer injuries that would get them a better finish, but Eddie Howe needs more depth in his squad to cover for the injury crisis the team seems to have most seasons.
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| Are AFCB headed in the right direction? |
The size of the job that AFCB's recruitment staff will have over the summer will become clear in the next few weeks, when we see who is being released and how much of the squad is staying put. Bringing in players to push AFCB into a higher league position is far from simple. AFCB have tried big names like Defoe and Begovic and AFCB have also gambled on relatively unproven players like David Brooks and Chris Mepham. Bournemouth's budget is not as big as we'd like to think, and it highlights where we are in terms of recruitment and league standing when Bournemouth are linked with Ademola Lookman, who couldn't get much of a game at Everton, a team that AFCB are trying to catch up with.
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So the finish of 14th in the league was a fair reflection of where AFCB are in my opinion. AFCB will have better seasons with fewer injuries that would get them a better finish, but Eddie Howe needs more depth in his squad to cover for the injury crisis the team seems to have most seasons.
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