We rather like seeing Fraser play as a striker

While I know Eddie Howe will rest his players from time to time and will protect some of the younger players, like Ryan Fraser, from burnout, I was a bit disappointed to only see him on the bench on Saturday. Fraser has had a terrific impact on the Cherries season and I like seeing him play as much as possible. The bonus that we did get though was to see Fraser play through the middle, rather than on the wings and this really excites me.

Ryan Fraser has been superb this season and he may yet get a few more goals.

Ryan Fraser is not of course a tall player and coming up against big central defender is probably rather difficult for him, as he will end up coming off worst when he runs into them regularly. But Ryan is talented enough to whizz past them and get them turning, which is precisely what AFCB needed to get behind the Stoke City defence. His bursts of speed are just not something that Ryan Shawcross or Bruno Martins Indi wanted to see. Ryan can twist and turn and go either way, so he is twice as effective when he plays behind the main forward in my opinion and the game really comes alive when he gets on the ball, as you know he has only one intention, to run at the defence and create problems.

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The Cherries had to utilise their attacking players in some unorthodox positions to where we are used to seeing them, as they simply don't have a clone of Callum Wilson or Benik Afobe on the bench. The wingers are plenty in number, but Max Gradel and Junior Stanislas also found themselves popping up in central positions as the game progressed, as it is an area that has to be filled with energy and intensity. I do see that AFCB could play much more with their attackers interchanging across a front three in the future, as they have King, Stanislas and Fraser who are particularly good at playing together and it would be of interest to see how they would do in a 4-3-3 formation when needs arise.

Eddie is a lover of his wing backs though, and his trusted system which does pile pressure on the opposition. Sometimes though seeing players absent through injury does allow him to change things around and Ryan Fraser terrorising defences through the middle is a sight that I'd like to see more of in the future.

Cherries fight hard to earn 2-2 draw with Stoke City

Match Report

AFCB 2 v 2 Stoke City

6 May 2017

Attendance: 11,046

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End of the season games can be slow affairs and while this one did not sparkle at first the irritability and spats between Adam Smith and Arnautovic soon brought this game to the boiling point. A well organised Mark Hughes side made it tough work for the Cherries who fell behind to an own goal when Lys Mousset, making his first Premier League start, inadvertently headed past Artur Boruc from a Stoke corner on 33 minutes. While the game soon became ill-tempered, only Harry Arter picked up a yellow card. Bournemouth seemed out of sorts until a rousing run by Adam Smith provided the perfect low cross for Josh King to dummy and leave for Junior Stanislas to side-foot in past Jack Butland, just after the hour. Yet, when Max Gradel came on, AFCB switched off and a right wing cross lead to a knock down from Aranutovic that Mame Diouf had the simple task of converting from six yards. The Cherries rallied once more though and another right wing cross from Adam Smith saw Max Gradel's header saved by Butland, only to rebound to King who saw the ball go in, when his shot hit the back of Ryan Shawcross to make it 2-2. The point made AFCB mathematically safe and equalled their points total of last season with two games to play.

Francis leads AFCB's greetings to Stoke City.

Stoke City line up for the minute applause before kick off. 

AFCB's players pay their respects.

More pictures will be on the Match Day Gallery later this morning

Bournemouth gave Lys Mousset his first Premier League start to replace the injured Benik Afobe and Junior Stanislas came into the starting line up on the right wing to replace Ryan Fraser who moved to the bench. Jordan Ibe also made it back int the squad.

Stoke City made one change with Mame Diouf replacing Saido Berahino who had been ill, but made it to the sub's bench.

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First Half

It came as a bit of a surprise that this game would have so much niggle about it. Arter provided the first foul on Shaqiri and it started a busy afternoon for the referee's whistle. The home crowd enjoyed Adam Smith's clever play to evade Diouf near Bournemouth's box. Josh King then put an in an early shot from the right but it came at a comfortable height for Jack Butland. 

Joe Allen was breaking up play in midfield well and AFCB were getting on the wrong side of the referee's whistle in the fist 10 minutes. Stoke came close when Diouf sped down the right wing and crossed for Arnautovic, who had his shot well saved by Boruc.

AFCB resorted to a Francis launching a fabulous cross-field long-ball to Daniels from his own half to get AFCB up the pitch, even if Lewis Cook eventually saw the move come to an end with his shot being blocked.

Baily Cargill one of the subs then rushed around to the Bournemouth goal to tie-up Boruc's boot lace which received a round of applause when the game paused. Arnautovic then went down injured having ran into Adam Smith, only to get up again as play was not stopped. This angered the Bournemouth crowd who gave him a hard time from then on. It didn't slow Adam Smith though who cut in from the right and hit a curling shot that came back off the upright with Butland beaten, while the rebound was hit skyward by Lys Mousset, when he had a great chance to score.

AFCB were finding it hard to get round the back of Stoke who were defending deep. Shaqiri and Arnautovic were who they were looking for on the break. Arter was doing his best to slow them down, but his challenge on Jo Allen on 26 minutes saw him receive a yellow card, much to the home crowd's disapproval of referee Tierney. Shawcross was also in the referees ear doing all he could to make the referee give a red card for the incident. Arnautovic saw it as an opportunity to square up to Adam Smith and the referee was a bit slow to see what was going on.

Steve Cook next made a great block as Arnautovic almost slipped Shaqiri inside and Cook masked the goal just 4m out and saw the shot deflect for a corner.  Stoke City continued to come forward and won another corner that Cook had to concede, but this time Lys Mousset rose highest only to head past Boruc and give Stoke the lead.

AFCB did their best to get back level before half time with a King volley that went wide, while at the other end Shaqiri fired over as well.

The referee leaves the pitch at half time.

AFCB subs warm up.

Half time score.

Second Half

The Cherries managed to start forcing the game more up the Stoke end of the pitch, even if Jack Bultand had not had much to do. An early free kick on the right edge of the Stoke box, won by King had to be re-taken, but Arter a shot deflected for a corner.

Stoke also had a corner in the 54th minute after Shaqiri shot was deflected, but neither team was finding much space. On 58 minutes Howe decided to change things and Mousset was subbed for Ryan Fraser to run at the Stoke defence.

Stoke were getting ambitious with Whelan fancying his chances from distance as his shot cleared the Ted MacDougall stand! Stoke had the perfect chance to extend the lead moments later when a cross from Joe Allen on the right was headed over by Arnautovic from six yards, unopposed!

Such a let off installed some determination in the Cherries. They put some strong passes together with Lewis Cook and Adam Smith playing Ryan Fraser don the right and his cross was dummied by King and fired in by the on rushing Stanislas to equalise on 62 minutes, 1-1.

The game was lively now. Daniels had a half claim for a penalty shout when trying to get past Whelan and Shawcross, but the hand involved was deemed accidental.

Max Gradel came on for Stanislas after Stoke had just had a corner. AFCB didn't mark up quickly enough and Cameron put in a cross from the right that was contested in AFCB's box by Arnautovic and Francis, but fell nicely to Diouf who was right on target from a few yards out, 1-2 to Stoke with Adam Smith and Artur Boruc down on the ground.

While there was still some 20 minutes to go, it was the kind of game where you wondered if the Cherries were really able to comeback a second time. The time management of the game by Stoke City was extremely annoying though and there was a determination not to let Hughes' tactics spoil the day.

Lewis Cook did his best to change the picture by firing a low shot wide of Butland's left post. It was then that Stoke made a change and brought on Jonathan Walters for Diouf. AFCB had reorganised with Gradel playing as a forward behind King and Fraser on the left when Jordan Ibe came on to replace Marc Pugh.

Ibe settled in to the right wing position and while he lost the ball at first it wasn't long before it was won back and Fraser had come across to his side. Lewis Cook spotted Adam Smith in space on the right and he put in another good cross that max Gradel headed at the feet of Josh King, only for the ball to come off the back of Ryan Shawcross go in to the goal on 81 minutes - it was 2-2. 

Joe Allen was still looking to create as AFCB were pinned back, but clear chances were not being created now. Arnautovic was subbed for Pieters on 90 minutes and four minutes of added time saw the game out with Max Gradel having the only half chance, deciding to shoot from distance having not seen Josh King coming up on his right. 

While Stoke had some late pressure, AFCB could be satisfied in keeping them out to claim a point.

A good home performance for the Cherries keeps them above Stoke in the table.

Summary

This was a peculiarly aggressive game at this stage of the season between two mid-table teams, but it showed that the game mattered to both. It was physical and very much a battle, but Stoke came to defend deep and attack on the break while doing all they could to waste time when they were ahead. AFCB have a great weapon though in Adam Smith and this crosses really did much of the damage to unlock Stoke's defence. While Eddie Howe will not be impressed with the way AFCB fell behind, he will have been encouraged by their energy and desire to comeback after Stoke went ahead twice. To be in 10th place at the end of the day is a good place to be after such a hard won point.

Ryan Fraser at the end of the game.

AFCB: Boruc, A Smith, Francis, S Cook, Daniels, Stanislas (Gradel), L Cook, Arter,  Pugh (Ibe), Mousset (Fraser), King

AFCB Subs: Allsop, B Smith, Mings, Cargill, Gradel, Fraser, Ibe

AFCB Ratings: Boruc 5, A Smith 8, Francis 6, S Cook 6, Daniels 6, Stanislas 7 (Gradel 5),
L Cook 8, Arter 7,  Pugh 6 (Ibe 5), Mousset 5 (Fraser 7), King 8

Stoke City: Butland, Johnson, Shawcross, Martins Indi, Muniesa, Allen, Cameron, Whelan, Shaqiri,

Arnautovic (Pieters), Diouf (Walters)

Potters' Subs: Grant, Pieters, Adam, Sobhi, Walters, Berahino, Crouch

Referee Watch: Paul Tierney 4/10 - an ill-tempered match and yet only two Bournemouth players were booked and no Stoke players. Arter's foul on Joe Allen was controversial, as he appeared to get the ball cleanly, but with both feet off the ground he was always likely to be booked. There was little punishment for Stoke's constant game management.

What has happened to Stoke City since Christmas?

It's all gone a bit haywire for Mark Hughes at Stoke City since the New Year and he is fast losing his grip on the good work that his team has pout in over the first half of the season. It was a similar picture to when the two sides last met with Stoke City unable to win at home and AFCB's defeat at the Britannia started their season. Now Mark Hughes is looking to pick up some confidence in his side's performances which was completely shot by defeat in the Capital One Cup semi-final and has not recovered since.

Stoke City have not won away in the Premier League since 28 December when they were ninth in the table. Four points from their next six games is not the kind of form that might have been expected, but they are now facing sides that are fighting to stay in the league with important games for them against AFCB, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Chelsea. They dare not come away without points in these types of games, but Mark Hughes is aware that his side is lacking something and is desperate to have a good week in the build up to the game at Dean Court which is likely to be pivotal to their season in which direction it goes.

When Ryan Shawcross plays for  Stoke City side
the stats say the Potters are harder to beat - but he's out!

The back injury to Ryan Shawcross in late January against Leicester City has certainly not helped Stoke City, but if losing one player makes that much difference then they have major problems. Charlie Adams, Jonathan Walters, Mark Wilson and Geoff Caermon have also been out in recent weeks. Shawcross hoped to be back to face AFCB, but he is not going to travel. However, Bojan Krkic has boosted their team's spirit though by signing four-and-a-half year a contract that will keep him at Britannia until 2020.

Stoke City also have to work out how they can quickly integrate new £18.3m signing Giannelli Imbula into their attack without taking away from Marko Arnautovic, Xherdan Shaqiri and Ibrahim Afellay. The balance was probably not right in their last defeat against Everton and you never know we could even see Peter Odemwingie and Peter Crouch get a game. It appears  that Mark Hughes is looking for his strikers to be more aggressive with their passing in the last third rather than taking too many safe pass options near the box.

AFCB will certainly be looking to restrict Stoke's chances in front of goal which appear low at the moment with only two shots on target against Leicester, none against Man Utd and three against Everton. Already out of the FA Cup, Stoke fans may not want to watch much of the rest of this season if they lose at Dean Court.

Stoke City Away Form
DWLLL

AFCB Home Form
WDLWL

Probable AFCB team: 4-5-1 Boruc, Smith, Francis, Cook, Daniels, Stanislas, Surman, Arter, Gosling, Pugh, Afobe

Bench: Federici, Distin, Iturbe, Grabban, Ritchie, Murray, King

Score Prediction
Send in your predicted score for #AFCB v #Arsenal to @peterbell19 on Twitter. Please make your score clear to understand.

If you have a correct score prediction you are in with a chance of winning the Cherry Chimes prize which is a pair of AFCB sweat bands this week. If two or more people have the correct score the winner will be picked out of the hat. Good luck!

Thanks again to Cherry Chimes Sponsors for this season Broomhill Garden Buildings, Natterjacks Vets and AltamiraDeco.

Howe is more than getting his message across

The starting line up against Sunderland was a shelling of players that had stumbled at Norwich City. While some of those players will come back into the team at some point it demonstrated that Eddie Howe can't afford to have sub-par performances if he is to bring more success to the south coast. It is great credit to those that came in that they stormed to victory in the first 10 minutes of the game against Sunderland and did not get a chance to show any nerves, but the real victory was Eddie Howe's decision to have a clear out and sharpen up players' minds as to what they need to do to get the points. The mindset was right last weekend. Eddie Howe got what he demanded from his team and that bodes really well for the rest of the season. 

Eddie enjoys the challenge of winning games and will have
got his message over to the AFCB players as they take on Stoke City today.

In comparison Dick Advocaat did not get a response from his players. They may have been on the pitch and were trying to take the game to the Cherries but they could not shackle Callum Wilson and Kaboul was the main one to suffer from that. I would not say that Sunderland's head's went down but they seemed incapable of being able to lift their game. There was no such feeling about the Cherries who seemed to have several gears to go between. We saw good game management and Eddie Howe seems to be getting his message through to his players.

While it is not great to have setbacks, AFCB are showing that they can pick themselves up and that when they have performed poorly they can up their game. More importantly, they trust Eddie Howe and that strength is what should see the team head towards safety in good time.

Today's game will see Mark Hughes in the home dugout and he will be on edge about the outcome of this match as another home game without a win will increase pressure on him. He has a full squad to pick from this week, apart from Ryan Shawcross and perhaps Mark Wilson if he fails a late fitness test. There will be no hiding if he does not get it right, so I feel that the Stoke players are the ones that have most to fear in this game, but it will need AFCB to be first to the ball in the first 15-20 minutes and to get Stoke to start doubting themselves. I read a stat that the Cherries had run the furthest so far of any team in the Premier League at 697km and if Stoke are fragile when it comes to lasting 90 minutes, as we saw against Leicester City, it will be Eddie Howe's management prowess that pundits will talking about again.

See you at the game today - safe trip everyone! UTCIAD!