King is at his best rampaging through teams

The way Josh King went about attacking Southampton reminded me of what initially must have attracted AFCB to the former Blackburn striker. It might not be that King ever gets the full recognition for what his performances give the team, but he certainly knows how to get AFCB ticking.

Josh King is hard to stop when he heads directly for goal.

His part in the first goal against Southampton was carefully played out with a captivating run that opened up the opposition's defence and his well timed pass to Wilson helped set up the goal for Gosling. King is becoming an essential link in taking the ball through the transitions to ensure it gets to a striker.

In partnership with Cherry Chimes

King was also involved in setting Fraser on his way to deliver a measured cross for Wilson's second goal and Bournemouth 's third. It was talk about making better choices on attacking passes that had wanted the players to pick up on and King was exemplary at making the right choice at the right time.

Whether King can do it as well against Tottenham, as he did against Southampton is one battles to look out for. But if King really wants to impress, he needs to start doing it against the top six teams.

Out Tomorrow
Cherry Chimes' May Newsletter brings you the best stories on the blog and the thoughts behind them from last month. It's out today, with special story - What do AFCB need to have a more consistent season?

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Begovic has started to pull out the saves

There has been no real qualms about Asmir Begovic getting the number one shirt in AFCB's goal, but it has taken him a while to really come up with a very strong performance. The game against Spurs I believe was by far his best game so far, and he is starting to show he can be a leader on the pitch.

Asmir Begovic at Wembley

It looks like Begovic will play more games in goal than Boruc for AFCB this season and while the two keepers are going to be watched very carefully if AFCB remain in the bottom three, goalkeeping errors are not the reason why AFCB are in the position they are in. Against Spurs, Begovic really stepped up and made a good splattering of saves in both halves. The incident that the pundits liked to dwell on though was his added time foul on Nihoudou who looked set to score.

Begovic was very quick of his line and decided he was going to get everything as long as the challenge was outside the box. The good thing is that he was committed once he had made his decision and he got there quick enough to get there in time. Whether he got enough of the ball and was unlucky to get carded is one that only video replays will decide, but I have expected the referee to send him off as that is how AFCB's season has been going.

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Luckily Begovic only received yellow and could be pleased with his overall performance on the day at Wembley. Going up to Stoke will be a home coming for him of course and he should want to be just as keen on getting a good performance in there. But something about me hopes he is not as busy as he has been of late, because AFCB are defending better and they need some reward for their performances which they are simply not getting at the moment.

Cherry Chimes' Match Report Spurs v AFCB on AskFans

The game plan almost worked against Spurs

Bournemouth are in a difficult place right now. Eddie Howe can be pleased that the team is getting harder to beat, but they are still getting beaten and they are not quite producing enough up front to get anything much out of games. In away, it is like Bournemouth are in a quagmire of potential but no fulfilment of their aims appear possible with every fixture seeming just as hard as the last game.

Bournemouth players run out at Wembley.

All the teams in the Premier League are good sides. If Crystal Palace can go and beat Chelsea having not won a game prior to that, or having scored all season, then we should know that anything can happen in a top flight game. It should not matter to the players if it is Wembley or the Bet365 stadium, AFCB have to beat the 11 players in front of them and they need not only a win but a back-to-back win just to get themselves involved in the league, because at the moment they are fading away into obscurity.

However, the international break certainly helped in terms of organisation if we look at the Spurs game. The three centre backs made it very difficult for Spurs and only the genius of Christian Eriksen really caused problems for Bournemouth. Stopping Spurs' big stars rampaging through the middle of the pitch was a valid call and out wide Bournemouth had their wing backs to try and shut down the number of crosses.

The problem was Eriksen kept up his intensity and managed to find some space in the centre of the Bournemouth defence in the end. Bournemouth still have these moments when they concede having done so well. It was unfortunate in this game as AFCB could so easily have been ahead first and if they had scored early the game plan would have become even stronger.

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Bournemouth did not react quickly to change things either after they had gone behind and that was perhaps a slight mistake, as Ibe and Defoe did make a difference when they did come on. So the game plan didn't quite work this time, but AFCB have found a good way of playing against the best sides that come on to them.

Rival Lines: Wembley could quite possible deny Spurs the title

Rival Lines
Match Preview: Spurs v AFCB
Blogger Interview: Tottenham Blog
Twitter @DJFitch

Our second of two Rival Lines this weeks comes from Dan at Tottenham Blog. The lack of Premier League football got me a bit anxious this week so that is why we have ended up with a double helping of Rival Lines. It's all been a welcome period though for Spurs blogger Dan who can marvel at Harry Kane being on the short list for the Ball'on Dor and Harry Winks getting an England debut cap after just four Premier League appearances, but perhaps can AFCB bring Spurs back down to earth or should I say Wembley - their unhappy hunting ground.

CC: How did you get started on Tottenham Blog?

TB: I was working as a freelance journalist for lots of websites and figured I could learn a lot from running one myself.

CC: Is the Wembley form going to cost Spurs a crack at the title this season?

TB: Quite possibly. I’d have really fancied us if we were still at White Hart Lane. That said, our away form wasn’t great last season, so that was always an area in which there was potential to improve and so far we’ve done that.

CC: TalkSport's Alan Brazil and David Ginola have been talking about whether Spurs could sell Harry Kane in a swap deal with Gareth Bale and £120m - how would that sit with Tottenham fans?

TB: There is no player that Spurs fans would love to see back more than Bale, but not at the expense of Kane. These stories never explain how we’d pay the wages of someone like Bale, though I guess the £120m would help.

CC: Have you been surprised at how well Ben Davies has played at full back?

TB: Not really. He’s never really had a consistent run in the team until now, which has made it difficult for him to be at his best. We’ve missed Danny Rose’s energy and pace at times, but I’ve always thought that Davies was a better crosser.

CC: Do you think Dele Alli need to have the naughty boy image to be the player he is?

TB: He gets himself in trouble for silly things, often off the ball, which is a habit that he will hopefully grow out of. If that happens, I think he’ll be a better player, not a worse one.

CC: Did Mauricio Pochettino do enough in the last transfer window?

TB: We could have done with an attacking player with real pace and perhaps a playmaker, so we’re not so reliant on Christian Eriksen, but overall it was a pretty successful window.

CC: Does Son Heung-min deserve to be on the subs bench this season?

TB: The fact that we’ve mainly played with wing-backs has reduced his chances, as he played most of his games as a winger last season. He’s started more games in the Champions League, where his pace is vital when breaking against opponents that are likely to have more of the ball than us.

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CC: What can you tell us about Harry Winks?

TB: I’ve yet to see him have a poor game, though Pochettino has been very careful in regards to what fixtures he’s picked him in. Winks always wants the ball and has the confidence to get his head up and pass imaginatively. It says much for his intelligence that Pochettino often brings him on as a substitute to see a game out, which is a job that a more mature player would normally be trusted with. I’m hoping that his England debut will lead to us picking him more regularly this season.

CC: Do you think Jermain Defoe is still good enough to go to the World Cup with England and is he the player Spurs fans will most fear in the Bournemouth line up?

TB: With Kane a certain starter, Defoe would be a useful super-sub to bring on if we needed a goal. He’s much loved among Tottenham supporters, though I’ve never been his biggest fan. For me, Defoe never convinced when played on his own up front, yet nor did he ever form a truly effective partnership with any of the strikers he played with at Spurs.

CC: Would Josh King have been a good fit for Tottenham this summer?

TB: A lot of Spurs fans were against this move, but I was all for it. We lack a really fast forward and it would have been great to have landed an adaptable player like King to make the most of the wide spaces at Wembley.

CC: Have spurs got many injuries?

TB: We’re without a number of players that would be contenders to play if fit. Mousa Dembele, Erik Lamela, Danny Rose and Victor Wanyama are all out.

CC: How do you expect Tottenham to line up for the game against Bournemouth?

TB: Lloris in goal, a back three of Alderweireld, Sanchez and Vertonghen, Trippier/Aurier and Davies at wing-back, Dier and Winks in central midfield, with Alli and Eriksen supporting Kane.

Another strong set of answers from our second Spurs blogger. Dan may be worried that Spurs are not yet picking up maximum points in their home games but as an AFCB fan we would just be happy to get a point or two anywhere at the moment. While Spurs have several players out and a big mid-week fixture against Real Madrid, AFCB will have to show something they have not shown yet this season I believe to win at Wembley. Still places can inspire players and the Cherries just may be fancy having a good crack at Spurs with 3000 AFCB fans behind them. Catch up with more of Dan's views on Tottenham Blog including the Pochettino's views on the differences between Spurs Man Utd and Man City and why Spurs may become record breakers this weekend.