Steve Cook - is he one of England's best defenders?

I gave Steve Cook man of the match at Watford. It was pretty much the full performance form him. He was firs to pretty much every tackle and the cross bar is probably still rattling at Vicarage Road after his high leap and header that beat Ben Foster, but not the framework of the goal.

Steve Cook is playing well again.

In the last month we have seen Tyrone Mings get his first England cap and yet Steve Cook is still being overlooked for a call up at national level. It may not bother Steve that much but if he keeps paying as he has since his return from injury, he will surely get that elusive opportunity one day to join the England squad. In a way the fact that Mings has made it should give hope to Steve that he can also get that recognition.

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The important thing for AFC Bournemouth fans though is that Steve keeps playing with the kind of authority that he showed at Watford. Steve never hides from a challenge and he enjoys coming up against top strikers. He didn't have Troy Deeney to battle with but he had the pacey Geard Deulofeu to keep tabs on, which he managed fairly well.

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The visit of Man United will be another challenge. Both Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial are looking to get Man United back on track and new signing Daniel James also looks a handful. So Steve Cook can't as for a much bigger test in the next game to try and keep the clean sheets going. If he manages it he might have more cause to hope that Gareth Southgate is starting to see that he is one of the best English defenders available to him.

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Is being involved with England enough for Wilson?

Callum Wilson will be in Gareth Southgate's squad tonight but it is another matter whether he can add to his number of England starts. At the weekend he sat through the 90 minutes against Bulgaria on the bench, while Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling took the plaudits for a stunning England show of forward power, which Southgate described as World class.

Callum hopes to get off the sidelines for England.

So where does that leave Callum Wilson? He has done nothing wrong and everything right in the appearances he has played for England. He does not play for a big club and has perhaps scored as many goals as he would have liked since the start of the season, but his desire to play for his country is clearly important for him. How many opportunities he'll get is something he might not be able to control.

While Southgate could choose to rest players that have put England on the brink of qualification for the European Championships, it is hard to see Southgate taking his foot off the gas now and giving the likes of Wilson and former AFC Bournemouth defender, Tyrone Mings a start. Perhaps if England are 5-0 up by half-time against Kossovo he could give some players an outing. But Kossovo are by no means push overs and are lying second in the group on eight points, one behind England have played one more game.

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As well as form, star players and the group situation being against the inclusion of Wilson, the Bournemouth forward may be thinking that he really needs to get some minutes, because of the form of others like James Maddison, Jadon Sancho, Callum-Hudson Odoi and Tammy Abraham, who are all ready to stake places as attacking players. Of course, Wilson would like to thought of Southgate's first substitute if he can't start, but even that is by no means a certainty with such a crop of young talent coming through. Callum may just have to start banging in a lot more goals for Bournemouth before he pushes himself up the rankings in Gareth Southgate's mind.

Knee worries apart there's no stopping Wilson now

When I was watching Callum Wilson hit his rocket volley past Fabianski last weekend, I was quick to grab my sons and enjoy the moment with them, jumping up and down at the sheer velocity of the shot! I was delighting in the moment and with the knowledge that Callum Wilson was moving up the ranks in terms of his finishing ability. A few years ago I'm not certain that Wilson would have even gone to hit a shot from outside the box as well as that as a dipping volley, let alone shape up so well that the goal made everyone gasp in awe at the strike.

Callum is in a great place but it's important he stays injury-free.

Callum is in the mood to score goals. Everyone is talking about him. He has an England cap in his pocket and with Harry Kane injured, he could be the main man for England's next international. Both Gareth Southgate and Eddie Howe will be sweating though on the players knee concerns as he limped off against West Ham. The man has been through an awful lot t get his game back to its peak, and he seems to forever be in the repair garage which is the only thing that is likely to halt his progress.

Callum's quality is there for all to see now. He glided another excellent effort against the post against West Ham in the second half that could have raised his stock even higher had it gone in. But while West Ham and Chelsea are said to be looking under every stone to gather the money to make Bournemouth a substantial offer for the striker, it is pleasing for Bournemouth supporters just to stop and reflect a little on their club now having the most wanted striker probably in Europe. It means that Wilson's future is whatever he wants it to be, and Bournemouth can be satisfied that even if they do have to sell Callum at some point they will be very well compensated.

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If Eddie Howe can do this to Wilson's game, we have to believe that he can do something similar to Dominic Solanke and Lys Mousset, if they have the ability within themselves to become great strikers. These players don't necessarily evolve every time, but at least we know Eddie Howe can make it work for some strikers and Wilson is hopefully just one of many off the Bournemouth conveyor belt that go on to be top-class strikers for the club on Howe's watch.

Transfer news
Lys Mousset has been linked with Galatasary.

How soon can Lewis Cook fully break into this England team?

Lewis Cook didn't get into the England World Cup squad, but he was mighty close as a standby. Whether Gareth Southgate sees Lewis as a player that can challenge for a starting place in the team in the coming months is what I am keen to know.

Lewis Cook now knows he is trying to get
into one of the top four international sides.

England have a few friendlies coming up in September after the World Cup. The first game will be against Switzerland at Wembley and the USA in November. However, there are some UEFA Nations League matches to be played against Spain and Croatia in the autumn months. It's arguable that Southgate will want to try some new players after the heroics of the summer in the UEFA Nations League games, and that could give Lewis Cook a big opportunity.

If there was anything that pundits felt England were not so blessed with in Russia it was creative midfielders. Now Lewis might not score many goals at the moment, but he does spot the passes to get other players in, and if he can add a few shots on the end of his own runs he will become an England player who is a rarity in running at defenders. In the World Cup, only Raheem Sterling really has the playing style for England to run at defences and Lewis Cook may offer a more flexibility for Southgate in future England games.

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Bournemouth play three at the back like England have been doing and Lewis has played as a three in midfield with two wing backs either side. Lewis tends to play centrally, but he would perhaps need to work at playing slightly more advanced in the positions that Lingard and Ali play for England in to force his way into the side. Bournemouth tend to play more regularly with two strong central midfielders and three attackers, so a degree of adaption for Cook might be needed to show he can vary his passing and his movement in a 3-5-2 set up, when he gets the chance to drive forward.

Southgate's World Cup - Day 22 France await

Lewis Cook is on a fast-track learning course at AFCB

It is going to be a great moment if Lewis Cook is given a start against the Netherlands or Italy. To see a Bournemouth player in the England team who has not been a regular in the past is something special and even if Leeds fans will have believed that Lewis would get to that level no matter where he had played after Leeds United, there is some credit due to Eddie Howe and his coaching staff who have developed Lewis at just the right time to peak before this summer's World Cup.

Lewis could secure his place in Southgate's England this summer
if he has a good game in one of the next two friendlies.

Lewis has had to bide his time to get into the AFCB side and I wonder how easily he will find it to get some time playing for England. Gareth Southgate may well view Lewis Cook as a back up squad member rather than a starter in Russia but once Lewis is on that plane, nobody knows what could unfold for him of England.

The two internationals coming up will really signal how much Lewis Cook is in the thoughts of Southgate. If he does not play any minutes then AFCB fans may be despondent as to Cook's chances of getting on that plane, but we will not have been privileged to have seen what has gone on in training and it is the combinations of players that Southgate has to work on, not just seeing how the individuals operate in the team.

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Lewis of course has played a lot of football with Dan Gosling and while Gosling has not been called up Jack Wilshere who was also at AFCB last season will be a player that Cook will be completing with. It may also be on Southgate's mind to see how Wilshere and Lewis Cook could work on the pitch and they should have a reasonable understanding already with the training they both did on the south coast last season, even if I don't recall them playing much together in the Premier League.

It must be a heart stopping moment for Cook when he does get told that he is going on. While you know you are ready for international duty having played at U21 level and having been in the senior squad before, it will be a special moment for him and I just hope it does come in this next week as then he has got it done and can concentrate on setting his sights on being a major part of Southgate's plans.

AFCB England hopefuls may rue Huddersfield performance

It is not that clear who Gareth Southgate wanted to watch above all others at the Huddersfield game. If he wanted to see AFCB operating well though he was going to be disappointed. I wonder how much a manger can take from watching one game anyway and how does he know which game to pick to see a player at their best or worst? 

Has Lewis Cook missed his chance?

Well, if Gareth was watching Lewis Cook in midfield he may have gone away thinking that this was not the best match to see what Lewis can do, or he may have gone away thinking I see how he plays now when his team is behind and are finding it hard to get back into a game. Just because Bournemouth lost the game doesn't mean Gareth necessarily left with a negative attitude about a player. Still, it is human nature for players to be excited when they know someone like the England manager is at the game and that they have a chance to impress upon him if only for 90 minutes.

If Southgate was hoping to add some defensive options to his England squad he may have been less than impressed by four goals conceded by the Cherries. Steve Cook and Charlie Daniels have never managed to catch the international eye yet, and I suppose Bournemouth players are unlikely to get even the merest of looks if they can't start working towards more clan sheets.

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The other possibility from a Bournemouth point of view could be that Gareth wanted to see whether Callum Wilson was worth revisiting. Callum has at least been scoring a few goals and Huddersfield had been a team that he had always done well against. Gareth will have seen the energy and running that Callum put in on an afternoon when not a lot fell for him but I'm not sure it would have told him anymore or less about Callum. 

Strikers are always going to be noticed if they score though on a regular basis and while Callum had a quiet game he has 11 games now to try and get his name up on the scoreboard as many times as possible. Hopefully, he and Lewis Cook can look past the Huddersfield defeat and look forward to the games to come as their chance may not have totally disappeared yet.

In other news, Eddie Howe is named Premier League Manager of the Month for January 2018!

Lewis Cook gets senior England call up

Gareth Southgate has been true to his word of getting the U21 players involved in the senior squad even if these players are not getting a great deal of time at their clubs. Bournemouth's Lewis Cook is the latest player that could get a look in against Brazil at Wembley on Tuesday.

Lewis Cook is moving up in class.

This is a big moment for Lewis even if their are some six Tottenham players that have pulled out of the England squad. The recognition means that Cook is not so far away from Southgate's thoughts and it shows that he is being noticed when he plays for Bournemouth as well as for the U21s. As the captain of the U21s it is perhaps not such a surprise that Southgate has decided he can call upon Lewis now for the senior squad, but it will start to put pressure on Eddie Howe to think about playing Cook a bit more I feel, if Lewis really has a chance of making the plane to Russia.

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The World Cup could well have quite an impact of AFCB now. Arter, King and Defoe are very much in contention and perhaps Lewis Cook and Callum Wilson can be added to that picture, if things go right for them in the next few months. I think it can only help the Bournemouth team to play better if they have several players in the thoughts of international managers.

I am incredibly honoured and proud to be called up for the @England senior squad. A huge achievement for me and my family. Thank you for all the kind messages 🦁🦁🦁

— Lewis Cook (@lewiscook_) November 11, 2017

It is quite a rise though for Cook who has six starts this season, including two starts in the Carabao Cup. To go from a handful of Premier League games into contention for an England squad place demonstrates that it only takes a good run to get picked. Lewis has deserved his call up for his controlled displays and many have tried before to force their way into the centre of AFCB's midfield and not shifted Arter or Surman, so the progress Cook is making really encouraging and who knows perhaps he could even get a start on Tuesday against Brazil.

Do we all appreciate how good Harry Arter really is?

There was only one man who was running the show against Spurs and that was AFCB's number Eight. Harry Arter is ensuring that he makes the most of every minute he spends on the pitch these days, and he is energised with a passion that is so intense that it blows me away at times. I only hope that AFCB fans appreciate how good he is, as I'm starting to agree with Jack Wilshere who says he is among the best centre midfielders that he has ever played with.

Harry Arter may still think he would be better to change
international camps and on his performances I'm sure Gareth Southgate
and the FA would welcome him.

The amount of times the fans sing Harry's song is a fairly good indication that AFCB fans do indeed know how special Harry is. Against Spurs he was a real pest for Wanyama, Ali and Lamela, he just buzzed around them for 90 minutes and didn't give them a break. It was a magnificent effort, not just because he walked out of Dean Court last week on crutches, but because he walked off the pitch having out shone players that have been international stars for a few years in some cases. It's like Harry Arter owns Dean Court - it's his patch. 

We know that when Harry isn't playing that the team doesn't usually perform as well and he has become the player that I believe most of the team look to now for inspiration. Even Simon Francis was not spared a Harry Arter anger look in the first half against Spurs, when the captain slipped him a pass that was only ever destined for the touchline. Arter demands high standards of himself more than anyone else, but he has forged really strong links with his team-mates on and off the field with the things he has been through and I think this special bond is part of what makes him demand even more of himself come match days.

There has been lots of discussion over Arter's future in the Republic of Ireland squad and, as he has not yet played a competitive game for them, he may still decide that he can opt to play for England instead. It is intriguing that Gareth Southgate was at Dean Court on Saturday and will have noted who was the best player on the park. If Harry does not feel wanted by the Republic of Ireland he has a big decision to make. 

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So Harry, if your reading this. The fans at AFCB really do appreciate not only what you have done in the past to get the team to the Premier League, but also how you seem to keep finding another level to take your game to. I still think Wanyama might want to check on Spur's training pitch this week that Harry Arter is not anywhere near by, because he certainly saw enough of him on Saturday.

Steve Cook can set his targets high this season

The departure of Tommy Elphick to Aston Villa in the summer, and the shifting of Simon Francis' position to central defence has been almost a seem less transition, but it has been helped by the stable performances of Steve Cook who has adapted to the changes in personnel without any demise in his own game.

Steve Cook shows the progression that players can make at AFCB. 

It is hard when watching Steve Cook to imagine anyone else playing with his confident stride, taking the ball from Artur Boruc, and setting AFCB's stall out for another move from the back. He has been at the Cherries for getting on for five years now and his progression as a player has been magnificent, just like one or two others in the squad. League One football and the Championship had their own challenges for Steve, but he overcame those steps and is pushing on now in the Premier League. In the seven games of this season he has been able to be selected for every game, and the fact that very little has been written about him is more to do with his untroubled performances that have not gone unnoticed by the manager or the supporter that recognises Steve putting his head in where others would think twice.

The future for Steve is now what he makes it. There is a new England manager and with the likes of Jack Wilshere now at the Cherries there is every reason to believe that Gareth Southgate will be looking to visit Dean Court. He might well be looking at the Arsenal player but may well find that there are a few players in this Bournemouth side that are showing more consistency and Steve Cook comes at the top of that table for me - well, at least of the outfield players - Boruc has been something else.

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What do you need to get noticed though as a top central defender? Steve may not be the biggest but he wins headers in both boxes, plays out well from the back and can make telling passes, but what gives him an edge is that this season he has been happy to take on responsibility of his own performances. He has been like a rock at the back. I think his solid play has also helped Simon Francis to play with a calmer attitude, and together they are just beginning to find that the Premier League is not such a big step up for them now.

Rival Lines: The truth - what's gone wrong at Villa? Villa Underground explains

Rival Lines
Match Preview: Aston Villa v AFCB
Blogger Interview: Villa Underground
Twitter: @avfc_vilr

I spoke to Dan this week who is the editor of the Villa Underground website - in the current climate underground might be very appropriate, but Villa are not quite buried yet. It was quite a hard conversation as I found it difficult to be optimistic in what I could ask about the Villa. Still, Dan may have given up on this season but he has not given up on his club and neither have the other 35,000 who regularly attend Villa Park!

CC: Villa have been heading down all season so has it been like the inevitable car crash that you could do nothing about or could things have been done differently?

VU: We have been heading down for over 5 years. In previous seasons we have either been saved by good fortune or there being three worse teams than ourselves. We’ve been through a long period of austerity after owner Randy Lerner turned off the taps, but it has been compounded by wasting vast amounts of resources on dross. Despite the cut backs, Villa have spent terribly across a number of transfer windows and been guilty of tying ourselves to huge wages over long durations. Things could and should have been far different!

CC: You still managed to beat AFC Bournemouth on the opening game of the season, so will that give your players any reason for confidence when they take on the Cherries again?

The opening game was a strange affair. We stand to end the season being able to count victories on one hand after-all. Whilst we won the fixture, my memory of the game is how many clear cut chances you missed on the day.  Through rose tinted glasses at the time it was put down to “Premier League class”, but in reality it was perhaps nothing other than first day nerves for your guys. In terms of confidence going into the fixture, our club and it’s players are at rock bottom. As many teams have found, score first against us and you are home and dry, that will likely be your aim Saturday.

CC: Is there a real feeling from the fans that your next manager must have been a former player with true Villa running through his blood?

VU: The club has suffered greatly, in my view at least, for discarding so many “football” men following the Lerner takeover. Executives and commercially minded folk (allegedly) were brought in, but had zero understanding of how football works. They had even less understanding of Aston Villa. Whilst I don’t believe there is great clamour for a “true Villa” man to specifically take the helm, we are desperately in need of a man who “gets” football. This is in part why Nigel Pearson, unthinkable until recently, has gained traction as a potential manager.  We need a “proper” manager who can grab the club by the scruff of the neck and remind it of its potential. The elephant in the room is that in terms of former Villa players in management, it is slim pickings; Southgate? This is why the new Villa board is perhaps seeking familiar faces, such as recently appointed Brian Little, to take on advisory roles at the club.

CC: It is not just this season that has been a problem for Villa, so is the real problem Randy Lerner and the non-sale of the club that has prevented the players' from meeting fans' aspirations?

VU: The drawn out saga of the club being for sale is a big factor. Lerner wants out but expects somewhere in the region of £150/£200million to part with the club. If he achieves this, particularly given our relegation away from financial riches, would be a miracle. The other problem is that Villa have spent unbelievable amounts in both fees and wages on players who haven’t improved the squad. Equally, we have done the same with managers. If these funds had been put to correct use (look at Leicester…) then the fans would have greater sympathy. Signings such as Charles N’Zogbia for £10m (5 years ago) and £17m in wages since, sit as sour, wasteful examples. A player who neither cares, puts in any effort when he played and countless managers have passed over. And don’t even start me on Gabby Agbonlahor! Lerner started brightly, was badly advised, lost a huge amount of money on a dream and has regretted it ever since. His attempts to try and claw something back have destroyed us totally.

CC: Which was the worst defeat of the season for you to watch and why?

VU: Liverpool at home, 6-0. The worst defeat on our own pitch in over 80 years, to a Liverpool side that is as poor as any in living memory. A Villa team that not only gave up, but allowed an opposition to ridicule the club for 90 minutes and on TV. It was probably a fixture that defined the slide for many, embarrassed the Claret and Blue half of the second city and underlines Lerner’s culpability. There wasn’t a single positive and it confirmed what we knew about many who pulled on the shirt (*This was the game where Lescott “accidentally” tweeted the supercar afterwards…

CC: Did the FA Cup run last year put a mask over some of the problems that were deep routed at the club?

VU: Yes and no. Sherwood for all his failings motivated a desperate side into the final and somehow, miraculously I assure you, kept us up. That side has Benteke in unplayable form and Delph commanding it. Grealish was also a key figure in the run in. It was the beginning of the end however. The sale of our two best players and Grealish losing his way exposed the fact that beyond them we have very little indeed. This was a mess of a squad, but we had the resources to improve it in the close season in 2015.

CC: Do you want the new manager to build the side around Jack Grealish or is it best to rebuild from his sale?

VU: Grealish has all of the attributes to be a fine footballer. However, he has already shown traits that undo the best. With the right people around him he will go on to great things, either with or without Villa. If he wants success he has to remember that discipline and professionalism will get him there. Ideally I’d love to see Jack at the centre of a rebuild, but only time will tell. In truth we need more than one man, we need a whole new spine of a team. It would be a sad day when Villa needs to part with largely unproven players such as Grealish to fund a rebuild.

CC: Villa are very loyal and are there are still 33,000 turning up for home games but will they find it at all refreshing to visit grounds like Rotherham Utd or Burton Albion?

VU: Despite our situation this is one of the few silver linings.  Fans I talk to in person and on social media look to new grounds as a welcome change in scenery from identikit Premier League stadiums.  Villa often get singled out in the media for empty seats in recent years, but this is largely because many fans (1 in 4 realistically) refusing to fund Randy Lerner.  The fact that we still get 30000+ most weeks is actually quite unbelievable given the standard of football on offer and the lack of effort from the players.  An increasing number now only attend away games, so ‘new’ grounds will only fuel this until there is a change in ownership.

CC: Can going down to the Championship be the making of Villa or do you see it as a spiral to further problems?

VU: This will go one of two ways. The club has to make the right managerial appointment and use its size to orchestrate an immediate return to the top flight. I worry greatly if we conduct ourselves in the manner of recent years. That could see us in absolute disarray, ending...who knows where?

Bournemouth are probably one of the sides Villa fans would have expected to have done better than this season but do you think the newly promoted sides have had more ambition than some of those that find themselves down the bottom?

Looking at our downfall and having listened to former CEO Tom Fox, it is down to organisation. Bournemouth (and similar promoted teams in recent years) have made good solid plans and executed them well. Villa completely relied upon its size and perceived stature in the game to guarantee Premier League survival. This is why we became perennial 6th place finishers. Our lack of ambition inevitably translated into flirting season after season with relegation until we have finally been found wanting. Our revenue, despite the huge growth in terms of TV money has stayed relatively static. In short, despite being within the English domestic elite in terms of honours and fanbase, we were left behind. It is astonishing how poorly run we have been.

CC: How important is it that Villa win a few games at the end of this season for sanity and is it best to throw some of the youngsters in now in preparation for next season?

VU: I think the importance of winning is lesser than actually blooding the younger fringe players now. In truth, we have had very few players break through and make the grade for far too long. However, consecutive managers have been reluctant to use academy players, despite the clubs successes in both the FA Youth Cup and Youth Champions League equivalent. Most fans would welcome their inclusion, but there has been a baffling and frustrating perseverance with senior players that don’t try, hurl abuse at fans at games, misbehave in public and post crap to social media. We have become so accustomed to defeat that even a side that tried but lost would be a welcome change.

CC: What is your score prediction for the game?

VU: 1-0 to Bournemouth.
All the best for next season.

CC: Well I don't think we have ever had a more frank and honest Rival Lines from a fan who loves his club than this one. I sounds desperate to hear such mismanagement but we all know it happens at clubs at at Villa their has been a rotten core their for some time which is no help to the fans but fellow fans of other clubs can sympathise with people that get hold of their club and run it down even if they started with the best intentions. Now Aston Villa as a club needs to give its fans something back in the way of belief and direction and rebuild the trust. It's a huge job for someone but the Championship is a hard league and t takes hard work to get out of it. In some ways though if it was not for some big clubs losing their way there would never be room for some success stories like AFCB to find their way up the football pyramid so to Villa fans I say stick with your club and hope for the right people to come in, It's all about the future.

To read more of Dan's writings please visit his website at Villa Underground where he looks at possible new manager choices for the Villa such as David Moyes and Nigel Pearson. I have also answered some questions for Dan which you should see later after 10.30am.

You can also listen to a Birmingham Mail Villa podcast here to hear how Villa fans feel ahead of the game.