Cherries fashion their own Total Football style

I noticed that in his post-match interview after the Scunthorpe game that Eddie Howe made reference to the rotational position play of the team on the field. It was clearly seen at several parts of the game when Elphick or Cook for example would go up for a corner. O'Kane was usually playing the role of covering defender, while Arter sat quite deep for a lot of the game. At one stage we could see Marc Pugh scrambling back to mark Scunthorpe's centre forward and usher the ball out to safety when he became a make shift centre back.

It is a credit to Eddie and Jason and to the team that the players feel comfortable enough on the ball to be able to be able to do this. I don't think many sides will play in this way in League One. It is clearly part of Eddie's philosophy which includes playing the ball out from the back as much as they can. Bournemouth fans are really treated to seeing a good footballing side and at the moment it is also a winning one.

It was a fact not lost on Brain Laws who commented how it was easy to see why AFCB is at the top end of the league. I feel a lot of the confidence in the side comes from the current back line with Elphick and Cook winning the headers at the back while Francis and Daniels are formidable players in defence and spectacular going forward on the overlaps.

We may not have big bustling forwards or hard, physical centre backs but the agility and touch that the players are showing at this level on the bobbling pitches at this stage of the season is fantastic.

The Dutch philosophy of Total Football seems alive and well on the south coast.  

Can AFCB achieve back-to-back wins this Easter?

Monday's match against Scunthorpe Utd could not be bigger. Having won on Friday at Colchester Utd, AFCB will look to prove their promotion credentials against the Irons at home. It will not have escaped the League One table watchers that a win for the Cherries could well take them top again, with Doncaster Rovers only two pints ahead and playing promotion rivals Swindon Town in the day's early kick-off.

Bournemouth's pre-match concerns will largely be focused on the fitness of those who had a hard game against Colchester. Eunan O'Kane who had a foot injury during the first half of that match tweeted on Saturday that he was on crutches, so Shuan MacDonald is likely to come in to the team again. The match fitness of Tommy Elphick and Charlie Daniels will also be on the manager's mind having seen them only recently return to the side. It is possible that some fresh legs might be needed as well and I would not be surprised if Wes Fogden or Josh McQuid see some action if Pugh needs a rest.

Eddie Howe has stuck with the running power of Lewis Grabban up front despite his current goal drought. Lewis just needs to put one of his chances away to get his confidence up again, everything else he does is good as he is stretching defences and linking up extremely well with Pitman. This is crucial for team as it enables them to create space and goal scoring opportunities. Pitman, himself, has found another gear and just can't stop scoring which is fabulous for the team.

With the back four notching up another clean sheet against Colchester, AFCB's defence too is looking in fine form and the Irons really have a difficult test ahead of them.

The Irons come to Bournemouth on the back of a 2:1 home victory against Leyton Orient. They still lie 20th in the league though, one point above the relegation zone with Oldham having two games in hand on them. The pressure on them is massive as they look to beat the drop.

Karl Hawley is Scunthorpe's main striking threat. He has 8 goals this season. He may well be partnered by the much travelled Nigerian born Akpo Sodge with Mark Duffy in support. Both of them have six goals this season.

The writing has been on the wall for the Irons having not surpassed the dizzy heights of 18th position all season. Manager Brian Laws knows that his side face an up hill struggle to stay in League One, but he has had a reaction from the players in their last game. 

When Laws returned to manage the team for a third time, at the end of last October, I expect he thought Scunthorpe would not be fighting for survival at this stage of the season. However, the former Championship side is still finding life in League One hard.

Much of this match will be about recovery from Friday's game and whether the Cherries can burst the back of the net with the kind of finishing they showed in their last home game against Bury. I think for Scunthorpe it could be an exercise in damage limitation. Bournemouth are in confident mood and are looking see if they can take one of the automatic promotion positions. They seem very focused and determined now.

When the teams last met on 8 December 2012, the Cherries had a 2:1 away win in the middle of their long unbeaten run. Goal scorers for the Cherries that day were Grabban and Fogden.

Well done to Andy Burton for predicting an away win for the Cherries last match can any one get the score right for this one?

Scunthorpe Away form:
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AFCB Home form:
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