Refocussing on the positives

AFCB have had a tough last few weeks. The games have been close affairs but the points have been hard to win and while eight points from eight games keeps the Cherries on course There is a feeling that if they had just had a bit more luck it could have been 10 or 11 points for them at this stage.

The international break will give the team more of a chance to work out how they might best take on some of the big heavyweights in the league in the coming weeks. Man City and Spurs will be followed by a League Cup match against Liverpool and a derby against Southampton. I don't think I can remember a more exciting run of fixtures for the team and the challenge is really to progress in the cup and to get some points out of these games which are amongst the hardest on the calendar.

Everyone is going to have to be at a peak level in these matches and being a set of games that will see the Cherries be away from the Vitality Stadium in the main there will be a need to try and make the team play better when they don't have the ball and to be more reliant. On the road the team has been less able to reduce the goals against and clean sheets have been absent unless we count the League Cup match against Hartlepool. I think that has to be a firm objective that the players can try to improve on. A point away against either Man City or Southampton would be a good result and by keeping a clean sheet that can be obtained. 

Eunan O'Kane was back in action against Watford having missed out against Stoke.

The team selection also becomes a bit more of a challenge now as there are so many games coming up in just a few days. The whole squad is likely to be used and that could mean that we see a great performance by one of the players who has been on the sidelines a bit of late. I am hoping that we may see something of Joe Bennett as well as perhaps the return of Harry Arter.

Despite the injuries, the players have been committed to attacking teams and it is good to see that the mood is still positive in camp and that everyone is supporting each other. I had a word with Tommy Elphick just before the Watford match and while he said he would be out for longer than two months it was clear that he had accepted his own position and that he was just motivated to get back as soon as he could and to help the others. It is only the Norwich match that really saw the Cherries slump from their high standards, and if they can pick up some points in the next few matches we should see that gap from the bottom three start to grow.  

AFCB's tweaked game plan was successful

It was clear that there would be a new shape to the Cherries game against Watford. Without Callum Wilson there had to be a change in the way the team played at the top of the field and Glenn Murray and Josh King would form a new partnership that had to click right away. Pleasingly the team did not look that much poorer for the loss of one of its key players and with a solid 12 attempts at goal and six on target, the Cherries whipped up a powerful game plan against Watford that very nearly gave them all three points.

Glenn just wants to score goals. That's good enough for me.

Very early on it was clear that the Cherries would be looking to find Murray in the air and on the ground with balls focused in at him from wide areas. Murray may not be the quickest to turn and pass but he comes alive in the box, and it is clearly a strength that Eddie Howe was looking to activate as much as possible with other players also looking to get shots in after Murray had got the ball down and under control.

The big positive that I saw in the Watford game is that the Cherries do have a plan B and a lot of that was down to the running power of Josh King who really applied himself in this game, using his speed and reading of the game to constantly put Watford on the back foot during the first 45 minutes. Far from being a peripheral influence he went direct at the Hornet's defence and that created space and openings for other players. At times Josh still perhaps does not always pick the best final passing decision, but it was pleasing to see him get into shooting positions and start to look like he was enjoying the job of taking attacks to the opposition.

Now the Cherries can build on their performance in the international break with more work for Murray and King in particular. If Lee Tomlin can also find more sharpness to his game then I believe AFCB will be in a good position to keep their goal threat high, especially with Yann Kermorgant and perhaps Tokelo Rantie, if he recovers fitness, also likely to get minutes in the League Cup games as they try and force an appearance in the team.  

King may start to flourish now

Josh King may not have scored in the Premier League yet, but there are good indications that he is just starting to find his feet at this level. He had only played 53 minutes at Dean Court before the match against Watford and is still trying to establish himself in the side. It is important that Josh starts to add shooting power to the team and he will be being pushed now for his place in the side with several other strikers missing out to him. I was really pleased that he looked a more fearsome striker again against Watford and he just needs that goal now to start feeling really good about himself.

All strikers go through spells when things just aren't coming off for them. Josh has been playing more behind the top striker and has perhaps been playing a bit of a subsidiary role in the side but he has to go and show that he is a striker that will take shots on whenever he has a sight of goal. He has the ability to go past two and three players when he makes his runs and he is really exciting to watch when he does that, but the final pass or the shot at goal is just lacking and I'm sure it is just a bit of lack of confidence at that moment.  

Josh King probably had his best game so far against Watford.

Everyone is going to make mistakes but if the players don't have a go to try and do something special and attempt shots or difficult passes in the last third, then the Cherries will not benefit from being ambitious. King has that burst of speed and energy that takes him away from players and it sits well in this side as he is the player that can make the runs to the wings and in on goal for the team now. He just needs to take one of his chances. 

I hope that Eddie pursues with his playing of King when he can as I believe he has most to offer in terms of being  player that can take games away from teams. We have only seen a small measure of what he might be capable of and it is down to the coaching staff and King himself to realise his full potential now.

Yesterday, All Departments released a new podcast that talks to Alex Crooks and discusses the new book he co-authored called 'Match of My Life' which is available in the club shop. Please visit Mike's site to listen in to the podcast. I'll have the show on my site as well later today.

A new found confidence to the Cherries' play

There were not a great deal of changes in terms of personnel to the team that took on Watford to that which lost narrowly to Stoke City, but there was reason to be pleased with further development in the performance of the team that look more confident and at ease when playing at home now. The win against Sunderland had probably settled the players a little when playing at Dean Court, but the need to try and beat another newly promoted side was clear to see when the Cherries upped their game for the visit of Watford.

The Cherries have not looked out of place in the Premier League.

I believed that the Watford match would be the most difficult of all the games played by AFCB so far. It wasn't just that Watford had been getting good results against other teams, but the day was going to be an emotional one with what happened in the Championship last season and the keenest to play their best in a fitting tribute to the memory of Mick Cunningham. The players rose above the pressure and played what I thought was their best football of the season in the first half. 

Dan Gosling has now played a few games in central midfield and is contributing with Surman to a more effective midfield and Simon Francis is making his trademark runs again with real evidence that he can deliver the kind of crosses that will provide goals for the team again.  King and Murray will have to work at their partnership but there were good signs with Murray holding up the ball and King running at defences. 

While Watford did score, if you take away that moment, there was little to trouble Boruc in the first half and even in the second 45 minutes the chances for Watford were limited mainly to a shot from Anya that Boruc saved and a long distance shot from Watson that hit the bar. Considering that Watford had been a team that was creating many more chances against other teams the Cherries did well to restrict them to two shots on target. It was a solid point and could have gone even better so there is good reason to look forward to the Cherries coming back after the international break.

I see it is all change when it comes to match timings for Chelsea away and Man Utd at home as SKY are looking to see the Cherries do something special in December. Three 5.30 kick offs,  with the Arsenal match also now being later, might not be great news for everyone but at least the dates have not altered.

Finally, I hope there is a big turn out to say farewell to Mick Cunningham today. Well done for all those who can make it. I'm sure everyone is thinking about Mick today wherever they are. UTCIAD!

A quick word with captain Tommy Elphick

While the barriers tend to go up at the reception to the Vitality Stadium on match days since the team has reached the prowess of the top flight and more red carpet is seen around the entrance than the loose grit that used to adorn the surroundings, you can still manage to get close to the players and have a word with them now and again which is what I managed to do for a brief moment with Tommy Elphick before the team played Watford.

Tommy was not playing on the day as he had sustained an injury to his ankle a few weeks before when playing at Norwich City. The talk about the captain’s injury had died down rather since the club had informed everyone through the official website that Tommy had been to see a specialist in Sweden to get a second opinion on his troublesome joint that had swollen up after the game at the Canaries. So on seeing him walking, with more than a slight limp towards me, at the back of the Ted MacDougall side, I was momentarily shocked to see him walking gingerly towards me and chatting to people as he moved along. I had my camera in my hands and quickly shouted “Hi, Tommy!” at the top of my voice. I needed to get his attention to make sure he would put on a smile for me and sure enough he did.

I hope I don't have to wait to long to see this sight again.

Friendly as ever, he came right over to me and said hello before stopping and waiting to see what I was going to ask. “Hi, Tommy ,” I said “How’s the ankle?”

“Not good,” he said. “It’s still painful.”

I asked him about his trip to Sweden and how things went and he was a little more forthcoming.

“Yeah, I saw my specialist. He said it wasn’t good. He knows what it is though, which is something,” replied Tommy.

“Okay,” I said. “How long are you out for then?”

“Hard to say,” came to the reply.

“What a couple of months then,” I guessed, trying to eek out a more exact timescale for the recovery period.

“At least two months probably,” said Tommy “but I don’t think that is out yet officially.”

Oops, I hope I have not landed Tommy in it too deep by letting you all know that he is not expecting an early return to the team. But then that is our players, honest and approachable. I still hope that the club will say that Tommy is making great progress and early assessments may not be correct when things settle down and that we see him back sooner.

Still I was of course disappointed to hear the way things sound, but Tommy was very calm in his response and seemed to have come to terms with his own disappointment of missing some games. 

While not wanting to jump in before the club said anything more official about another probable long term injury I waited until the international break to post anything on the blog, but hearing that Tommy is not likely to feature in the next couple of months deprives the team of the player and his influence as a captain on the field, even if not off it. The players might have to get used to that for a bit.

He’ll bounce back as quick as he can I am sure, but things could have gone much better for Eddie Howe and for a lot of his players and as we have already heard it gives a chance for others to come into the team  and many have been staggered at just how well Sylvain Distin has played.

Sadly, I see that Christian Atsu is to miss the Ghana friendly against Canada as he has had a knock in training last week. Tokelo Rantie has also withdrawn from the Bafana Bafana international squad after a thigh injury. Let's hope we hear better news on the AFCB injury front soon.

Pleasingly, the players are still finding time though to talk to the fans and are willing to share their news. I believe they know how much us fans are willing them to succeed and are praying that they can all recover quicker than expected. Whatever knocks they seem to get, our players are there to give something back to the fans and I think that is tremendous in these times. I believe a lot of that is down to the way Eddie Howe has told the players how important the fans are to the club and no matter what happens this season, all the players know we will do everything we can to help them through the difficult times.

Cook says goal of the season is not over yet

Matt Ritchie scored a sublime goal against Sunderland a few weeks ago. It was hailed as one of the best ever goals to be scored at Dean Court and I don't doubt it. I am sure the goal has been re-watched probably more than any other AFC Bournemouth goal in the Premier League this season and yet there is a certain centre back who looks like he is all out to knock Matt off the top spot when it comes to spectacular goals.

I'm talking about our own Steve Cook. As a centre back it is always a privilege to get the opportunity to go forward and score the odd goal and I don't think any player in the Cherries team likes doing that more than Steve who made an audacious attempt to supersede Matt Ritchie's strike with one of his own against Watford last Saturday. Okay, I know the shot did not go in but when the ball broke to him from the free kick he met the ball with complete concentration and composure, thinking only of getting a strike on goal from a ball that was sat up at a difficult height and would need him to twist his body shape substantially to get a good connection. The overhead kick was beautifully demonstrated and to attempt such a shot from 20 yards out would be something special for any player, but for a centre back you have to say well done son!

Steve Cook just loves scoring special goals.

Sadly for AFCB fans, Gomes pulled off an equally top-draw save which meant that all Steve Cook got was a pat on his back from teammates for extracting such a great save from the Watford keeper. It tells me though that it is far too early to hand out the gongs for goal of the season contenders just yet. Cookie has already scored against Norwich with a strong header that looked simple but was actually guided in with some precision, and I have a sneaky feeling that we have not seen the best goal from Steve Cook yet.

Of course he hit a belter at Fulham last season and he also netted in some style with an overhead kick up at Ipswich two seasons ago. Special goals seem to be on his priority list and if he can get a few more this season don't be surprised if Steve Cook ends up rivalling Callum Wilson and Matt Ritchie for the goal of the season.

Look out for my next Shoot Blog article that looks at the Murray and King partnership that is likely to be out later today.

Murray will score different types of goals

The debut AFCB goal for Glenn Murray was not the kind of goal that we have seen often at the Vitality Stadium. While wide wing play has been a facet of Eddie Howe's footballing side there has very rarely been a big man on the far post to head home a deep cross. Now the Cherries have that man and yet Glenn Murray may have much more to his game than that.

Shooting from outside the area is something that Murray is happy to take on as well. He tried a long range effort against Watford in the second half but did not really connect with it. Still it shows that he is thinking about scoring all the time and while he has a style that looks slightly awkward at times there is no doubt that he is enjoying his football and is determined to do well at AFCB. I was impressed that he was one of the players who joined in the clapping on 55 minutes and his bond with the fans will surely grow quickly if he starts putting his chances away.

Glenn Murray has opened his account. Now how many goals can he get?

To get off the mark so early is certainly a big help. He'll be cursing his luck that he did not put his penalty away though. If he had got the winner against Watford and secured the three points then people would already be saying what a great signing Glenn was. There is no question that he will score goals but I am intrigued to see the kind of goals he will get. He is certainly at home in the box and his link play in and around the 18 yard area is  going to be crucial for the Cherries as he can hold off defenders and release the ball to other players who are in space to shoot.

The penalty taking is now in his court and while he did not score against Watford I doubt anyone will get the ball off of Glenn next time either. With Yann Kermorgant's high conversion rate we are not used to seeing many penalties not being scored, so Murray will have to start putting them away or he will be told to step aside. AFCB might not get as many penalties as last season but we certainly need the majority of them going in.