Who is more valuable to keep - Josh King or Callum Wilson?

There has been plenty of speculation about AFCB's top strikers in the last few days. Callum Wilson has been linked with Chelsea and Josh King has seen interest renewed by Manchester United. But while Bournemouth would no doubt like ti keep hold of both players is there more of a case for one being let go over the other?

Will it be Josh or Callum that goes? Surely, AFCB can't keep both of them this time.

Both players joined Bournemouth in the Championship and have been crucial in the club's rise to the Premier League and their ability to stay there. They do offer different qualities though. Josh King is more versatile in his ability to play wide as well as up front. He is a physical player and Bournemouth could well do without losing his physicality as they haven't really any other players with a similar bustling style.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream -now just 9.99!

Callum is more of your out and out striker. He lives for goals and likes to hold up the ball and run into the channels to stretch defences. He is perhaps more of an instinctive finisher and that is probably why he is often favoured to get Bournemouth goals. But replacing him is going to need a similar number nine who will tuck away chances more often than not.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

My gut feeling is that if Bournemouth have to see one of these two players leave it will be Josh King. He may not support such a high price, but Eddie Howe likes looking for wingers and new talent in the attacking areas and it may be that he feels King's time is up. I think he is less likely to want to let Callum go, as finding another striker who can bag more than 10 goals in the Premier League is going to cost a fortune. Howe already took a risk with Dominic Solanke and there is no easy guarantee of picking the right player next time, but he has done better with wingers.

While Danjuma might still be another mishit, there have been others - Connor Mahoney, Donal McDermott etc, other past signings like Ryan Fraser, David Brooks and Matt Ritchie give me hope that Bournemouth will do okay at picking up another good winger sooner or later.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Is there more to come from Arnaut Danjuma?

Ramsdale can be expected to be in demand this summer

All the football gossip columns are starting to look to who might move clubs this summer and there are links already emerging that Aaron Ramsdale will be heading the list of several clubs including Leeds United, Tottenham and Chelsea. While Bournemouth's best hope of retaining Aaron is to keep their Premier League status, even then there could still be some keen interest for Bournemouth's top shot stopper.

Aaron may be walking on different turf come the end of the summer.

The rise of Ramsdale has been sensational. It is hard to think of another player that has come into the Premier League and looked so at home so quickly. The pressure that comes with playing in goal is no doubt higher than any other playing position, but you just wouldn't know it with Aaron.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream -now just 9.99!

Shaka Hislop was quoted by the Echo last week that Ramsdale is the ideal replacement for Kepa at Chelsea. But Spurs are also likely to be in the running as Jose Mourinho looks to strengthen his squad, after Hugo Lloris has made some high profile mistakes. Even Leeds Utd, that expect to win promotion believe they can lure Ramsdale back to Yorkshire.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

Where does this leave Bournemouth? I have no doubt that Howe will fight tooth and nail to retain Ramsdale, but he also has another young aspiring goalkeeper in Mark Travers who is also ready for Premier League football. If the club can get a great fee for Ramsdale, he could well go this summer and it would surely propel his way into the full England squad if he was playing for a Champions League club.

Advertisement

Bournemouth fans should not be disappointed if Ramsdale does go. It means he has been magnificent and done extremely well. It has been amazing how Eddie Howe has managed to keep his best players over recent years, but this keeper could just be too hot to hold on to for much longer.

Cherry Chimes - Charlie Daniels is still raising a smile

What is going on in the last 10 minutes of games for Bournemouth?

It can't be stressed enough that the Cherries are finding it difficult to defend their goal in the last 10 minutes of games. We have seen last minute goals go in against Bournemouth in the matches against Watford, Brighton, Sheffield United, Burnley and Chelsea. The last 10 minutes are clearly not being kind to Bournemouth, but are there reasons for this?

Shipping goals in the last 10 minutes.

I have to wonder if the players are running out of energy after 80 minutes. As Bournemouth's possession stats are not high it is likely that this could have something to do with their inability to defend as well in the last few minutes of games. You also have to wonder how much of a mental thing it is if it keeps happening and the players almost expect it to happen again.

Advertisement

Late subs could also be a factor. We saw it with Gosling coming on at the end of the game against Chelsea for Lewis Cook, and when Stanislas came on for Fraser against Sheffield United. So when Eddie makes a late sub, beware!

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!

Clearly Bournemouth are not scoring many goals either in the last 10 minutes of games. If we rule out the FA Cup, you have to go back to the match against Tottenham in November to find Bournemouth scoring in the last 10 minutes of a game, and that was in the 90+6 minute so the team almost ran out of time to do it in that game! We might think that once 60 minutes comes up, Bournemouth's game is over as far as an offensive proposition goes. That's really not good.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

So, if Howe wants to look for something to improve this week, I would stress that the last quarter of games is something that he could really do with improving for AFCB.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - It's not about the Table in March, it's May that counts

Stacey impact is well-timed

Quite a few fans were unsure as to who most deserved the man of the match against Chelsea. I have no problems with those who felt Jack Stacey's contribution was the most significant, even if I gave the man of the match to Jefferson Lerma for getting the ball rolling in Bournemouth's favour.

Jack Stacey has suddenly stepped up to the grade AFCB need.

Jack Stacey has made the right back position his. To move Adam Smith from there shows that he has been doing something special in training and on Saturday we saw it with our eyes as he belted down the right wing to provide overlap after overlap. His crossing was spot on for Philip Billing in the opening minutes of the match, and for the second goal he made a cross that was precision perfect for Josh King to just run into the net, knowing that he had timed his run to stay onside.

Advertisement

If Jack can keep providing that kind of service, then Bournemouth will start scoring more than a goal a game, which is what they really need now. Stacey might not have been seen as a main weapon, but perhaps he has been watching what Trent Alexander-Arnold has been doing at Liverpool and has picked up a few tips. The game on Saturday will be harder for hime to make such an impact, but if he can force Andrew Robinson to defend a little more often than he'd like then Bournemouth will be in the game. Jermaine Jenas pointed out how well Jack had played on Match of the Day, and considering that Jack hasn't played much this season it was certainly his best game in a Bournemouth shirt against Chelsea.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!

Jack now has to be consistent and that s not easy against a team like Liverpool. He can take great confidence though from his game against Chelsea. He should have had a couple of assists, but for Billing's poor shooting and we know that Jack has a shot on him himself, which we might start to see now that he knows he is playing well.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Billing has to do better in front of goal

Billing has to be better in front of goal

Philip Billing has been a player that I think has been up and down as much in his ratings as he has been in getting between boxes in games. He has a lot of energy, it is just getting him to direct it better and trying to concentrate when he gets in goal scoring positions.

Billing has to make more of his chances if he is going to get forward.

The start of games can be difficult to take your chances and had Billing got his chances later in the game against Chelsea, he might have stuck one of them away. You don't get to always put right your misses though, and Billing had to live with his missed opportunities all game. To be fair to him he probably would have preferred the chances to fall to Callum Wilson or Josh King, but when he puts himself in with a chance of scoring he has to back himself to do the business.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream eBook version -available now!

I like the ambition of Billing to get himself so involved in the game, but he still has a way to go on being accurate with his passing and shooting. Should we criticise him for his failure to get things right at this stage? Well, I think he has the ability to do better and Bournemouth really need him to improve if they are going to keep playing him and get results against the top sides.

Advertisement

I think Eddie Howe will just be pleased that Billing is getting into goal scoring positions. Next time, Billing might do better and get Bournemouth the lead. Only by playing do you improve and as Billing is finding himself forward so easily at the moment, I hope he gets another chance or two against Liverpool.

Advertisement

While Philip Billing has been a bit hit and miss, he could yet be the player that comes good in these last few games to keep the Cherries up.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - The Cherries are still bang in trouble

Later this week Cherry Chimes will have a blogger interview with This is Anfield ahead of Liverpool v AFCB

The Cherries are still bang in trouble

Eddie Howe won't get carried away with the point against Chelsea. The point is a welcome one, but it wasn't enough to keep the Cherries form falling back into the bottom three with the results that Watford and West Ham Utd got.

The Cherries are still short on points.

The table was going to change and is likely to keep changing in the final 10 games. The run-in is upon us and it's as much about not losing nerve now as anything else. If the team is winning games it will get to safety, but there is an uneasy feeling that so many of the teams around Bournemouth have also stepped up their game and have started to pick up points.

Advertisement

It is pretty much anyone's guess as to who is going to stumble, but I think you have to look at who is scoring goals. Bournemouth have their swagger back and are on the rise along with Watford and West Ham. That could make it difficult for teams such as Norwich City, Aston Villa, Brighton and even Newcastle who are not finding goals as all easy to come by.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!

Where Bournemouth are still having problems is on defence. The second half against Chelsea was anxious because the players defended deeper and deeper and it gave Chelsea impetus to get back int o the game. Bournemouth were at their best when they were pressing for a their goal, but we just didn't see enough of it once the team had got ahead. It is a fine balance and while risking it by pushing players forward, it's easy to get caught on the break.

Advertisement

The table doesn't lie, Bournemouth have not been good enough this season so far but they are on terms with several other teams and can pip them, if they have a better run-in than three of the other struggling teams.

Lerma raised spirits with his goal

I don't think Bournemouth were going anywhere against Chelsea as the first half ended. The heads were a little down and the half-time came at a very good point for the players to regain what they needed to feel in the hearts to go and turn the game around.

Jefferson Lerma scored his first goal  in a home match at Dean Court for the Cherries.

There must have been some strong words said at half time. It wasn't that Bournemouth were playing badly but they had squandered chances, and had been caught by a Chelsea that had come back into the game, after they had been pressed back for the first 20 minutes. Listening to fans at half-time most of them were saying that the team started well, but that was it, and many were resigned to seeing Bournemouth record another defeat
.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!

But the impact that Jefferson Lerma's goal made was like someone lighting the blue touch paper. The header was like a rocket that burst the net and the fans were only to ready to start jumping about madly as they reacted to the goal. Lerma doesn't score many, but if he can score important goals like this when the pressure is on, then he'll become even more special in the fans' minds. As it was we had a great rousing chorus of 'Oh Jefferson Lerma!' for the next five minutes.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

It was Jefferson's goal that gave the team belief and it was no coincidence that their best play came just second after that with the second Bournemouth goal, as the players got caught up with the frenzied atmosphere of the crowd. Bournemouth needed to get that connection back with the players and the crowd feeding off each other, and even though the team find themselves in the bottom three again, I have more confidence now that the team is performing well and has the ability to play its way out to safety, which is not something I could see them easily doing before the draw with Chelsea.

Advertisement

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - A marvelous second-half start by Bournemouth

A marvelous second half start by Bournemouth

Two goals in the space of about three minutes of the second half for Bournemouth against Chelsea reminded me of all that is great about supporting the Cherries. The ground was buzzing, smiles were back on faces and the players were loving every second of being able to deliver for the fans.

Bournemouth win the second half but not the game.

You can't beat that level of excitement and pure pleasure at seeing your team play so well. It was tremendous play and for once it was easy to forget about the position of the club in the table and to just enjoy the moment of being ahead against a top four side. It felt amazing, because Bournemouth simply haven't come from behind in hardly any games this season.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream eBook version -available now!

Jefferson Lerma's header started the ball rolling. He has not been a big goal scorer in the past, but perhaps he is now seeing that he needs to give the team more in that area. Set-pieces have been very good for Bournemouth and they led the way in that statistic in the Premier League for goals scored, but the real excitement for me came in the way the second goal was scored. Bournemouth were purring. The turn by Philip Billing in the middle of the park was sublime, and he played his one two with Stacey perfectly with the full back speeding up the right wing with such power. It was as if the ball was sucked into the net by the home crowd and Callum Wilson first tried to get the important touch and then Josh King did.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

At the start of both halves Bournemouth looked to strike early. It is what we used to see when the club first got up to the Premier League and perhaps the team has lost some of that mentally. It was back though for the match against Chelsea, and if the team continues to play like that we could yet see Bournemouth secure a sixth Premier league season in a row.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Alonso snatches draw from Bournemouth in last few minutes

Alonso snatches draw from Bournemouth in final few minutes

Match Report

AFCB 2 v 2 Chelsea

29 February 2020

Attendance: 10,667

Here we go fourth verses 16th in the table.

Every pint is vital in a relegation battle and Bournemouth were close to gaining three points until Marcos Alonso netted his second goal in the 85th minute to deny Bournemouth their third home win in a row. Alonso had opened the scoring in the 33rd minute to give Chelsea a 0-2 half-time lead. Bournemouth had started both halved well though and with a dramatic three minutes scored twice in the 54th and 57th minute of the second half as Jefferson Lerma and Josh King found the net. A shock result was on but then Marcos Alonso pounced when Ramsdale had made a great save to deny Mount an equaliser. The draw was the least that Bournemouth deserved but other results saw them drop into the bottom three on goal difference.

The group hug - it's a massive game for Bournemouth.

Bournemouth made four changes with Steve Cook, Lewis Cook, Philip Billing and Ryan Fraser coming in for Simon Francis, Dan Gosling, Harry Wilson and Andrew Surman.

There are more images on Match Day Gallery.

Match Description
The first attack comes from Bournemouth. Fraser goes down the right plays Stacey through and his cross is hit towards goal by Billing, but Caballero saves.

Billing again goes close but hits the side netting. He robbed Tomori from the throw in and should have done better with the finish.

Chelsea come back with, Alonso winning a corner off of Stacey. A volley from Mount is pushed out for a second corner but Aké clears.

Advertisement

Billing plays a great ball down the left for King and Callum Wilson shoots but right at Caballero.

Lerma puts in a crunching tackle on Mount on 12 minutes. Jorginho gets booked for a foul on Billing.

Stacey wins a corner. Pedro comes out with the ball. Billing is playing well and makes a good interception, but Callum Wilson can't keep the ball in play.

Stacey wins a corner. There was a penalty shout by Bournemouth players but the referee has given a free kick to Chelsea.

Advertisement

 

Aké stops a Pedro pass when Chelsea were looking good for a chance. Steve Cook heads out. Adam Smith concedes a corner. Billing clears.

Aké gives Chelsea a corner. King clears. Kovacic takes down Wilson but there's no free kick. The home crowd aren't happy about that.

Mount has a snap shot but no power and Ramsdale saves down to his left.

Chelsea make a cross from the right from James and Gidroud gets his foot to it, Ramsdale puts it on the bar only for Alonso to score at the far post with a volley on 33 minutes.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!

Another Chelsea corner. Lerma clears, but Chelsea have another corner. Steve Cook just gets the ball away in time.

Chelsea corner. James shoots fro range but Ramsdale does well to keep it out to his left.

Mount almost gets in from a ball over the top.

Bournemouth are behind but they started well.

Second half
Chelsea on the break with Mount and Alonso takes it up and crosses, Giroud puts the chance wide from six yards. A bug let off for Bournemouth.

Bournemouth have a free kick, but Fraser goes down. Billing plays on Stacey and he's blocked.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

Stacey clears when King had lost the ball. James shoots over.

Bournemouth corner. Another follows. Lerma rises and heads in on 1-1 on 53 minutes. Jefferson Lerma's name rings out around Dean Court. A belting header!

Fraser into Billing, Billing makes a great turn, Stacey gets down the right and Callum Wilson can't get there, but King scores at the far post 2-1. A long VAR wait, but the goal is given. Bournemouth have turned it around. The crowd has played its part lifting the team.

Adam Smith is booked. The noise is defending. This is why we come to football. Every Bournemouth tackle is being cheered.

Aké heads down and Wilson shot right on front of goal is saved by Caballero.

Advertisement

Tomori and Jorginho are off for Chelsea. William and Barkley are on after 64 minutes. The rain is driving down.

James crosses and Giroud heads wide. Junior Stanislas replaces Josh King on 67 minutes.

Barkley shoots but hits his own player. Christensen is booked for a foul on Wilson. Giroud is replaced by Batshuayi on 72 minutes.

Chelsea see the offside flag go up. Barkley shoots and its deflected for a corner.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream eBook version -available now!

Lewis Cook blocks for a corner. Ake clears. Another Chelsea corner. It's spooned wide by Azpilicueta. Corner again. Wilson comes away with it.

Dan Gosling replaces Lewis Cook on 80 minutes. Bournemouth are being driven back.

Lerma clears for a Chelsea corner. A shot from Mount deflects and Ramsdale saves for a corner.

Another shot goes wide from Azpilicueta.

Advertisement

Pedro shoots and Ramsdale puts it onto the post but Alonso is there to head in and make it 2-2 on 85 minutes. Bournemouth were desperately unlucky. They haven't held out.

We have five minutes left. Callum Wilson is booked. Ramsdale is out quickly ahead of Batshuayi.

Five minutes of added time. Pedro is blocked.

It's ended 2-2.

Summary

Bournemouth didn't choke but they fell back on their heels after getting ahead in this game with a period of intense and exhilarating attacking play. Chelsea gathered themselves and came back and the point might just be seen better for Bournemouth in a few weeks time than it seems now with other teams leaping past them.

Bournemouth players put everything into that game.

AFCB line up

AFCB Subs: Boruc, Francis, Rico, Gosling, Stanislas, H Wilson, Solanke

Chelsea
13 Caballero, 28 Azpilicueta, 4 Christensen, 29 Tomori (Willian 64), 24 James,
5 Jorginho (Barkley 64), 17 Kovacic, 3 Alonso, 19 Mount, 11 Pedrom
18 Giroud (Batshuayi 72)

Chelsea Subs
1 Arrizabalaga, 2 Rüdiger, 8 Barkley, 10 Willian, 12 Loftus-Cheek, 23 Batshuayi, 47 Gilmour

Eddie Howe thanks the crowd.

Referee: Andre Marriner 3/10 - came under some stick for not giving free kicks. The foul on Callum Wilson by Kovacic really deserved a yellow.

Cherry Chimes MoM: Jefferson Lerma

AFCB Ratings: Ramsdale 7, Stacey 7, S Cook 6, Aké 6, Fraser 6,  Billing 6, Lerma 8,
L Cook 6, King 6, C Wilson 6

Chimes Newsletter - out today!
Cherry Chimes' March Newsletter brings you the best stories on the blog and the thoughts behind them from last month. The newsletter has a special story - Bournemouth will need to do it the hard way.

Advertisement

 

To sign up for the newsletter just complete the form below - like all good things it's free!

Email Address 

First Name

Last Name

Email Format

• html
• text

Can Bournemouth raise their game for Chelsea?

The last match in February for Bournemouth will see them return home and take on Chelsea. Frank Lampard will want a response after their mid-week battering by Bayern Munich. He felt Chelsea had a lot of work to do after such a result, but Bournemouth are equally in need of a lot of improvement for different reasons.

Where can Bournemouth find improvement?

Chelsea might be sitting in fourth place and be aiming to fight off the chasing teams for a Champions League place last season, but it is clear that they have had their won problems when you see that they have only recorded five clean sheets this season, just one more than the Cherries. It does make sense that they are being linked with a return for Nathan Aké with those kind of stats. Of the nine defeats they have suffered, of course one was by the Cherries in December. What is more, Chelsea haven't yet won a way in the Premier League this year.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

Lampard does have a striker problem with Tammy Abrahams being injured, but when he can draw on the likes of Olivier Giroud you can't say that Chelsea are toothless up front. They are averaging 1.67 goals per game and average 5.6 shots on target every game. So, already we can expect Bournemouth's defence to be kept busy.

Advertisement

Losing away at Newcastle United and Manchester United this year will have increased the pressure for Lampard to get a result at Bournemouth. But Bournemouth will have a punchers chance of getting another surprise result. Getting up for Chelsea is never a problem and Bournemouth are becoming a bit of a bogey team for the London club. But Bournemouth are only averaging 3.29 shots on target per game and are averaging 0.96 goals per game. At the other end they are conceding 1.59 goals per game, so we can see why they have been losing more matches than they win.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!

Raising Bournemouth's game will need more than a few smart words from Eddie Howe. Bournemouth have to play like their lives depend on it in front of their home crowd, because there aren't many more home games to get points on the board.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Is 35 points enough to stay up this season?