Losing Nathan Aké for the Christmas period is just about the last thing AFCB needed. He has been the rock that the defence has been built upon and without his experience, Bournemouth will just have to make do. At the weekend Jack Simpson came in to plug the gap, but Eddie may try something else for the match away at Chelsea.
Eddie Howe will be reflecting on the third goal that Chelsea scored and Jack Simpson's misdirected pass that went to Keita, before Salah received a pass from Keita to score Liverpool's third goal. Was Jack Simply unlucky? Could he have made a safe pass and is he still best placed to play next to Chris Mepham?
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The other straight choice Eddie has is to move Simon Francis over to centre-back. This
would make more sense as Francis is now a better player at centre-back than at right-back and Jack Stacey is perfectly capable of tying down the right-back slot. Of course, Howe may decide it is better to even go with three at the back just to keep another defender on the bench. All of a sudden though, Bournemouth are not blessed with lots of centre-halves and players like Charlie Daniels who could slip in and do such a job just aren't available.
Chris Mepham is also in the spotlight having misjudged the flight of the ball for Liverpool's first goal. Great centre-halves are invaluable and the loss of Nathan Aké is going to be seen in the coming games. Bournemouth really are down to the bare bones and Chris Mepham and Simon Francis have not played a game together as a centre-back pairing from my memory.
Meanwhile, SkySports reports that Chelsea have a £40m but-back clause in Aké's contract and want to exercise it this January.
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| How do you replace Nathan Aké? |
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The other straight choice Eddie has is to move Simon Francis over to centre-back. This
would make more sense as Francis is now a better player at centre-back than at right-back and Jack Stacey is perfectly capable of tying down the right-back slot. Of course, Howe may decide it is better to even go with three at the back just to keep another defender on the bench. All of a sudden though, Bournemouth are not blessed with lots of centre-halves and players like Charlie Daniels who could slip in and do such a job just aren't available.
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Eddie has to work with what he has. The shape of the defence will be the first thing Howe has to get right against Chelsea. It's what the team has to work on this week as a priority, then work needs to be done on working out how Bournemouth can have a threat up front. The options are limited, but we do know Nathan Aké will certainly be missed at the back.
Meanwhile, SkySports reports that Chelsea have a £40m but-back clause in Aké's contract and want to exercise it this January.
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