Nullifying opponents is not enough

Bournemouth went about their work with one eye on nullifying Sheffield United and the other on getting goals. While the defence did well for most of the game, the Cherries looked like they would see the game out despite not playing that well. The disappointment of conceding the late goal though puts a different slant on the week ahead.

Bournemouth need to find more attacking qualities.

The newly-promoted teams are no easier games than any other match and playing Aston Villa next away is perhaps not the fixture that Howe would choose, if he could pick what game came next. It is what it is though, and Villa will be hyped up in front of their own crowd at Villa Park and our players will need to deal with that.

Bournemouth know they have to do better at keeping goals out this season, but offering something the other way can't just be dismissed. As an established Premier League side, it may feel to AFCB's players that they have to take the game to sides like Sheffield United and Aston Villa, but with many key players not yet available it is going to take a win or two to get the players feeling good about themselves, and their chances of beating teams. In some ways it would have been helpful if Bournemouth were playing some of the usual top six teams first, as there would be less pressure on their game to pick up points.

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Getting off to a good start may mean having to take some risks. The team was set-up not to concede against Sheffield United, and it may be that Howe has to be a bit more clever in his attacking formation for Aston Villa who will probably test Bournemouth even more than Sheffield United did.