Heaviest defeat for Bournemouth at home undeserved?

Whether Liverpool were incredibly good or AFCB were out of sorts is something that we can analyse to see what the main contribution was to the 0-4 scoreline at Dean Court. While Bournemouth have suffered home defeats in recent weeks to Arsenal and Man Utd, the comprehensive defeat to Liverpool was a real destruction of Bournemouth's home record.

The second half goals really dented AFCB's goal difference.

At half-time, it hadn't been a game where fans could have said Liverpool were going to be out of sight in the game. The Cherries had been very compact in defending and had been doing well to keep Salah, Shaqiri and Fermino relatively well restricted to a few chances. It appears that the goal that Salah did score in the first half should also have been ruled out and VAR would have done that next season.

Yet, the half-time break didn't do Bournemouth any favours. One mistake by Steve Cook and suddenly it was a very different game. Going 0-2 down after an individual mistake sucked the life out of Bournemouth. Liverpool had the gap they needed to start enjoying their football and an unfortunate third goal made the result rather conclusive. It didn't take Salah long to complete his hat-trick and the tormented shape of Asmir Begovic for the last goal cut a forlorn figure on the pitch.

Considering that the first goal should never have been and two goals were unfortunate errors involving Steve Cook, one could argue that it was only the fourth goal that really saw Liverpool carve out a cleverly created opportunity that opened Bournemouth up. But if we take that view, we have to balance it with the truth that AFCB only had two shots on goal. David Brooks might have done better in the first half when he had a chance to score, but Allison had a fairly peaceful afternoon and from that point of view the Cherries were far less effective going forward than than they had been against the recent visits of Arsenal and Man Utd.

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Added together, the result is more of a reflection of a downturn in Bournemouth's form for me than the outstanding goal form of Mo Salah or Liverpool's great play. So, Eddie Howe has less to draw on from this latest defeat than any of the other reverses against the top teams this season in my view.

In other news, FA Cup Third Round match moved to 12.30pm on Saturday 5 January 2019.

Liverpool unwrap Bournemouth before Christmas 0-4

Match Report

AFCB 0 v 4 Liverpool

17 December 2017

Attendance: 10,780

Bournemouth welcome Liverpool.

There was lots of Christmas cheer around Dean Court, but it was Liverpool that had good reason to be celebrating and not the Cherries. Liverpool are a good side but they didn't have to work overly hard for this result. Slack tackles and open invitations to score soon saw Liverpool rack up the goals in the first half with Coutinho, Lovren and Salah putting Liverpool in an unassailable lead before the break. Bournemouth might have nipped one goal back by Jerman Defoe but his shot came off the inside of the post when Bournemouth were 0-2 down and they didn't rally after that. Instead Roberto Fermino added to the lead with a fourth goal to give Liverpool a comfortable away victory. 

Liverpool prepare for kick-off.

It was quite a shake up from the team that lost narrowly at Old Trafford. Out went Harry Arter, Junior Stanislas, Dan Gosling, Ryan Fraser and Callum Wilson. In came Jordan Ibe, Marc Pugh, Lewis Cook, Andrew Surman and Jermain Defoe.

More pictures are on Match Day Gallery.

Bournemouth were alert from the start with the runs of of Fermino who Francis shadowed. Charlie Daniels had to be constantly aware of Mo Salah on his shoulder as well.

Aké was less fortunate to be given a yellow card when trying to get to the ball ahead of Fermino. Referee Paul Mariner shocked the home crowd though by not only giving a free kick but by booking Aké for what seemed an accidental collision. Coutinho sized  up the wall and bent his shot that struck the post and rebounded  harmlessly out. Salah was not to shoot having made a turn inside the box but he lent back and shot over the bar.

King was then fouled but there was no yellow card for Lovren - a bit of double standards from Andre Mainer. Bournemouth tried their best to come forward and Defoe laid off a pass to Ibe who shot straight at Mignolet.

But Liverpool would soon take a firm grip on the game. Coutinho hugged the left wing before coming inside and turning Francis inside out. A further dropped shoulder and Coutinho opened up a shooting chance which he took with great skill to beat Begovic and put Liverpool 0-1 up on 20 minutes. Robertson was used well as a decoy, but Francis and Lewis Cook will be horrified when they watch this one back. They should have kept Coutinho out wide as he is devastating when he cuts in.

Mo Salah was not having quite such an easy task in passing Daniels but he had a shot go wide before Liverpool's second goal came after some hapless defending. A Liverpool corner was knocked on by Wjnaldum and at the far post Fermino managed to keep the ball in and headed it back to the six yard area where Lovren stooped low to head in. Eddie Howe will have nightmares about how Bournemouth failed to get the ball away. 

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Worse still Josh King appeared to hurt his hamstring and was subbed for Junior Stanislas on 30 minutes. For Bournemouth just to get a corner seemed a minor victory. But Lewis Cook and Stanislas got Bournemouth in a good position and Defoe took over finding himself in the clear only to shoot against the post, when he had beaten Mignolet. The ball span out though and along the goal line rather than nestle in the net.

Bournemouth then had more defending to do as Coutinho put Salah in and Begovic had to come out. The former-Chelsea keeper made a fantastic save with the ball almost going underneath him. Salah was completely stunned that he hadn't scored.

Salah was not to be denied for long though. A darting run up the right and he finally beat Daniels and even though he was held up for a second he soon recovered to turn and fire across Begovic for Liverpool's third just before half time. Marc Pugh was caught by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but again no yellow for the Liverpool player.

Stanislas and Gomez walk off at half time with Liverpool 0-3 up.

Second half

Bournemouth subbed Marc Pugh and put Ryan Fraser on for the second half. Bournemouth still could not get on the right wavelength with Stanislas and Ibe seeing their counter-attack break down. 

A good move from Bournemouth did see Stanislas link well with Ryan Fraser on the right and the wee-man got in for a shot but put it into the side netting.

Cahrlie Daniels game was run and he was replaced by Steve Cook on 56 minutes. Begovic then had to save well from Oxlade-Chamberlain after Ibe had lost the ball.

Defoe made Mignolet work as well with a well hit sot but Liverpool's keeper made a fine full stretch save to his left and Stanislas could not get to the rebound. Nothing came of Bournemouth's corner.

It summed up Bournemouth's afternoon when a long pass from Stanislas went right under Ibe's foot and out of play. 

Liverpool were intent on scoring more goals and they managed it when Coutinho put in a cross from the left and Fermino got his head to the ball to make it 0-4 on 65 minutes.

Bournemouth still tried to make blocks but it was damage limitation now.Even with Mo Salah coming off Liverpool could put Adam Lallana on. Lallana was perhaps not fully up to speed when he fouled Ibe and picked up a yellow card. At least Mariner had levelled up the scores on the yellow cards.

Fermino was replaced by Solanke before Oxlade-Chamberlain put another shot wide. Danny Inges came on to applause as he replaced Coutinho with three minutes to go and immediately had a chance to score but fired wide of the left post.

Three minutes of added time could not go quick enough for Bournemouth and it was a relief when the final whistle blew.

A thumping for Bournemouth.

Summary

This was not a great time for Bournemouth to get pummelled at home. They were never really in the game and as soon as Liverpool got the lead there was a deflating feeling that fell on the home crowd and it was hard for the players to respond. Bournemouth were not winning their individual battles and Liverpool were given far too much space to deliver balls into their forward players. Henderson must have felt like it was his birthday as he'll find it hard to get many games with such an incredible amount of time to make his passes. The tackles didn't come in and it was not long before Liverpool's front players cashed in. Bournemouth will do well just to forget about this as quickly as possible as there were very few positives about this Sunday game.

AFCB Subs: Boruc, S Cook, Fraser, Arter, Gosling, Stanislas, Afobe

AFCB Ratings

Begovic 6, A Smith 4, Francis 4, Aké 6, Daniels 6, Ibe 5, L Cook 4, Surman 4, Pugh 4,
King 5, Defoe 6

MoM: Charlie Daniels had the hardest job in keeping Sala quiet and he did well up to the Salah goal and it was a shame he had to come off in the second half.

Liverpool
Mignolet, Gomez, Lovren, Klavan, Robertson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson, Wijnaldum
Salah (Lallana), Firmino (Solanke), Coutinho (Ings)

Liverpool Subs
Karius, Milner, Mané, Lallana, Ings, Solanke, Alexander-Arnold

Referee Watch: Andre Mariner - 2/10 should never have booked Aké in the first half and was lenient on fouls from Liverpool that deserved equal treatment if he really thought Aké's challenge was a yellow.

Can Bournemouth make Liverpool defend?

We are all aware of how good Liverpool's fab four are in attack. Klopp loves to let them loose and hit teams with pace to get in behind defences, but the Cherries must find a plan to keep Mane, Salah, Ferminio and Coutinho from camping out near Begovic's goal. So how do you make Liverpool defend?

It has to be a full team effort to stop Liverpool.

I think the choice of who Eddie picks in midfield is going to be extremely important today. He could stay with two central midfielders or add a third. Having seen how well the team played up at Manchester, Eddie Howe is likely to be just as brave at home. But an experienced pairing might just be favourited for Howe who does not like to move away from Surman and Arter that often. We saw Arter in relatively good form up at Manchester and Surman has been rested, so there is plenty of reason for him to go with this pairing, even though fans have seen the benefits of playing Lewis Cook in recent games. Whoever plays though, Bournemouth have to be strong and full of energy to cope with the skill of Can Coutinho and Wijnaldum. If AFCB can stop balls getting through to Mane and Salah frequently then they'll be in the game. 

Liverpool might not be able to put the line up out that Klopp would really like to. Salah felt his hamstring in the match against Everton but played agains against WBA, so he could be rested while Emre Can is suspended. For Bournemouth. Harry Arter and Steve Cook are just a card away from their fifth yellows and suspension.

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The problem for Bournemouth will be in getting not only the possession but doing the right things in the last third. They came close to getting it right at Old Trafford and they'll get opportunities against Liverpool. They need a high number of chances though as Bournemouth have not been finding it easy to get goals and Eddie Howe is still not clear from what I can see in who he believes is the best strike partnership to get goals. If he can get it right though in a game like this, the team might find its stride in future games, as beating Liverpool would be a tremendous achievement and probably even more impressive than the win that was managed in the same fixture last season.

Possible AFCB line up

AFCB Subs: Boruc (GK), A Smith (RD), Gosling (CM), L Cook (CM), Fraser (RW/LW),
King (FW), Wilson (FW)