Bournemouth just weren't good enough

The time of reflection is now for AFCB and they have to get over it quickly and start to deal with reality. The season was a strange one with many complications, but however you look at it the Cherries were not good enough over the course of 38 matches.

Too many goals, goals goals in Bournemouth's net.

There are several stats that make it clear why Bournemouth were relegated and we can point towards the number of goals scored and those conceded as a starter. Conceding 65 goals is the second best record that Bournemouth have in the Premier League, but in their five years they have not got close to getting the number below 50. While Bournemouth invested in Nathan Aké, there were no other big name centre-backs, apart from record signings Tyrone Mings and Sylvain Distin in the 2015-16 season. Chris Mepham bolstered the numbers along with Jack Simpson, who is home grown, but Bournemouth opted for recruits from lower leagues like Jack Stacey and Lloyd Kelly this season and they didn't have experience of the top flight before that, Even Diego Rico had only a handful appearances for the first team before this season. Relying on the old guard of Steve Cook, Simon Francis, Adam Smith and Charlie Daniels was honourable from Bournemouth, but not prudent when the club was continuing to leak goals.

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The midfield has been unable to weigh in with many goals. The central midfielders especially have been more defensive in outlook with Philip Billing and Jefferson Lerma being Howe's main choices in 2019-20. Lewis Cook and Dan Gosling have more attacking style, but didn't manage to push their claims enough for starts. With Ryan Fraser wanting out and Howe needing to rely on Harry Wilson to fill in for a star-man like David Brooks, we can also see weaknesses on the wings.

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Up front too, Callum Wilson managed just eight goals this time and Josh King struggled with six, several of which were from the penalty spot. Dominic Solanke might have weighed in with three goals since the restart, but it was too few for a forward that was a big signing from Liverpool. Selling Lys Mousset and letting Defoe go on loan, left the Cherries short of fire power and it wasn't until January that Sam Surridge was recalled from his loan at Swansea.

So, for me there were weaknesses all over the park. But it was the inconsistencies and individual errors that made Bournemouth sink even faster. Much of that can be put down to the injuries and players not having regular partners playing next to them.

We can also say the club wasn't good enough in losing games to other struggling teams. They lost the six pointers in 2020 to Brighton, West Ham, Norwich and Watford. There can't be too much doubt that Bournemouth were not playing to a standard that they are capable of and that is what hurts. It hurts more than knowing Aston Villa had a point more than they should have, with the point they got against Sheffield United, thanks to the failure of goal line technology.

Fans shouldn't be disappointed if many of the senior players move on now. Their needs to be new ambition and excitement about the squad. The players we have seen play for AFCB ultimately cam up short. Let's see a new era and more success. UTCIAD!