Monday 2 November 2020

Tindall is having to turn games around to keep unbeaten run going

Jason Tindall had to give another inspiring half-time talk to see Bournemouth start to fire against Derby County at the weekend. The team remains unbeaten, but it's certainly not frightening the rest of the division by only playing to their potential for 45 minutes in games. The opening half of matches is becoming a problem and it is the substitutes that have been bailing AFCB out in the last couple of games.

AFCB remain slow starters in games.

We still haven't seen much of Rodrigo Riquelme but he certainly made a name for himself with his calmly taken finish late-on against Derb County. Up to that point, Bournemouth were struggling to get many shots on targets, but Tindall had raided the sub's bench to put on more firepower. It did the trick, but Jason has to try and work out why the team didn't perform in the first half.

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For me, the missing figure was Jefferson Lerma. Without Lerma bossing the midfield and keeping AFCB pushing forward, the team looks fragile and Derby were certainly able to dominate early on. Tindall has been putting others in before Philip Billing, but in this recent match he chose to rest Gosling and with Lerma also out injured, there wasn't enough bite in midfield. Billing gave the free kick away for the Derby goal and Lewis Cook was also guilty of losing the ball cheaply at times.

Bournemouth do at least have a lot of strength in defence. Steve Cook single-handedly took it upon himself to keep the Cherries in the game at times. He certainly saved two points with his goalmouth clearance near the end, and he seems to pop up just about everywhere he Bournemouth have been looking stretched. Steve Cook has probably been Bournemouth's best player in October along with Asmir Begovic, and that says much about how the team has been scrambling for points.

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While the team is still unbeaten, it is clear that when a couple of their best players are not in the starting line-up, Bournemouth can struggle to get going. It's great to see Bournemouth have the resolve to come back in games but Tindall has to get them starting games better if he wants three points more often.

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1 comment:

  1. marksulli2 November 2020 at 12:44

    We need to appreciate the Championship is very tough - for everyone. Watford, Reading and Bristol City have just lost unexpectedly. But there is also something not quite right mentally, which has been evident in recent first halves. AFCB are the best squad in the Division, (there, I've said it) but no-one is going to roll over just because of that.

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