Are Wolves on the up?

Wolverhampton Wanderers are suddenly on the up, having escaped the lower clutches of the Premier League table in recent weeks and slotted themselves in ahead of the Cherries. The most impressive of those results was a 0-2 away win at Man City so we know they are no easy opponent this weekend. They are now on an unbeaten in their last seven league games.

Last year's result at Dean Court.

The good news for the Cherries is that Adama Traore, who terrorised Aston Villa in their last match, he has had to pull out of the Spanish squad due to injury in the past week. Wolves have also only kept two clean sheets in their last 24 Premier League games, although one did come recently against Man City.

Ruben Neves has the long range shot to trouble many keepers at this level and while AFCB have been keeping opposition to long range shots most of the time, Neves is not some one you want to have the odd pot shot at goal from distance. Joao Moutinho is definitely the assist king in their team this season with 11, so he is a player AFCB will also need to get tight on if he plays.

Online-Bookies.org.uk

Advertisement

Wolves do have players that run hard and weigh in with goals like Diogo Jota in support of Jimenez and Matt Doherty at the back, who is a real danger from corners and free kick. Raul Jiminez will be the chief threat with Traore likely to miss out, and the Mexican striker has scored five times already this season.

Match preview interview with Express & Star - Bournemouth v Wolves the inside track on Eddie Howe's side

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream eBook version -available now!

Wolves Away record
DWDDD

AFCB Home record
LWDDW

AFCB TV preview

Howe says the capability is there for AFCB

Eddie Howe may be able to see that the capability to finish high is there with his team, but they have to find a performance every game and not just when they feel like it. The Cherries just haven't been able to follow up on games when they have had three points, and that is why they haven't shaken off teams that are hanging on to them now in the table.

Eddie Howe deep in thought about AFCB's season.

On their day, we know Bournemouth can give every team in the league problems. They play best when they go ahead, but even with slow starts they have shown that they can get back into games. That ability to get back just didn't materialise against Newcastle though. Howe needs to figure out why that was. He tried to give more control by changing to a back three, but it didn't open up the opposition and that was disappointing.

Bournemouth are used to working at finding solutions to different game scenarios. The ball wasn't flowing though at Newcastle in a way that was helping the Cherries. Passes went astray and the movement and creativity didn't come to fruition.

Advertisement

It must be frustrating for Eddie knowing he has the most talented squad of players he has ever has and yet they can't find a consistency to their results and performances. The international break might see some faces come back into contention, but Eddie will also believe in his squad and I expect him to use players who are fresh and without injury concerns. We are coming up to the busiest part of the season and Howe needs to see players with fire in their bellies now.  If they can start to hit form in November, then they could build a great run of games as they come thick and fast.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!

For the Wolves game tomorrow it looks like AFCB will be out Josh King and perhaps Jefferson Lerma. Ryan Fraser could also be a doubt having pulled out of the Scotland squad. For David Brooks it also looks like this game has come too early for him, but Dan Gosling played in midweek against Reading in an U21 game along with Simon Francis, Arnaut Danjuma and Jordan Ibe.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

Possible AFCB team to face Wolves

Subs: Boruc, Francis, Stacey, Mepham, Gosling, Brooks, H Wilson

Jefferson Lerma - a big miss against Wolves?

AFC Bournemouth will be able to draw upon the talents of Jefferson Lerma again weekend having served his suspension, but he is still unlikely to play much of a part in proceedings have played for Colombia in a friendly against Peru on Saturday and away against Ecuador on Wednesday (apparently both games were played in the USA).

It's not good when Jefferson Lerma has to miss games for AFCB. 

Lerma has already kept his booking going by picking up a yellow card against Peru, but he did play the full 90 minutes and Colombia won the game 1-0 thanks to a goal from Alfredo Morales in the wait for it - 90+3 minute! Jefferson only played 27 minutes against Ecuador on Wednesday, perhaps because Eddie Howe asked that he be given some rest to give him a chance of being on the bench against Wolves.

Advertisement

Jefferson will have a long flight back to the UK and so I imagine he will miss out being picked to start against Wolves. So we should see Philip Billing and Lewis Cook continue their partnership and Eddie Howe will want to see them boss the game better than they did up at Newcastle United. There is a chance that Dan Gosling could play, but Billing has been left out of Denmark's squad and is not going to need resting. 

Online-Bookies.org.uk

It is a shame that Lerma is likely to miss out as I believe he is Bournemouth's best central midfielder and carries the biggest presence. I imagine that Wolves would be quite pleased if Lerma's name is not in the starting line up. On the plus side, I suppose it is hard for Lerma to pick up bookings if he is a sub and he has five more cards to play with now. He will surely be looking to the Spurs away game. For me Lerma is the heartbeat of the team now and has become well attuned to the Premier League. It is not always that a player lives up to his transfer price-tag, but Lerma has and I still think he could add goals to his game.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream eBook version -available now!

Bournemouth will need big games from Lewis Cook and Philip Billing then to overcome Wolves who have improved their league position of late and are already ahead of AFCB on goal difference.

Mepham will have fond memories of Wolves

Chris Mepham made his Bournemouth debut against Wolves last February in a 1-1 draw. So there is a fondness about this weekend's opponents for Chris. Back in February Mepham was pleased just to get through his debut, after he handled in the box, but got a way with a decision against him, even if Raul Jiménez ended up scoring seven minutes to time. Sadly, Josh King couldn't put his second penalty of the game away and the points were shared.

Chris Mepham is doing well for Wales but is on the sidelines at AFCB.

Looking at the games Mepham has played since, I wondered whether he has been a success at AFCB yet? I see him as one of the most naturally gifted central defenders when he is on the ball and in possession. He turns quickly and has good vision when looking for passes. Where he has found it difficult is in dealing with some of the best Premier League attackers on the move. The Leicester match earlier this season was the last time Mepham had a start, and he was shown to be caught out of position against Vardy on the sprint.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

Perhaps he was unlucky coming up against one of the best teams as we now know. His season started much better than that with an early second half goal against Sheffield United that helped the Cherries get a share of the points on the first day of the season. Chris has found it hard to force his way back into the team with Steve Cook regaining fitness, and Bournemouth's formation that rarely allows for three at the back.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!

We do need to see Mepham getting game time though. Four appearances so far this season is not what I am sure he expected. He at least is playing for Wales and that should given him some confidence, but he needs to be pushing Steve Cook as hard as he can, as he will be the next defender likely to get a run of Aké or Cook do get injured. But not playing has a tendency to wear players down and I expect that Chris' Bournemouth career is not yet going as well as he had hoped. If he can cut the positional errors out though, AFCB might find that Mepham will benefit from getting more experience. Seeing Wolves run out on Saturday should remind Mepham that he'll want more games behind him before he sees wants to see those yellow shirts again.

Last night Chris Mepham played 90 minutes in Wales' 2-0 win of Hungary and Harry Wilson came on in the 88th minute for Gareth Bale. Nathan Aké also played 90 minutes  and scored in the Netherlands' 5-0 win over Estonia. Jefferson Lerma played 27 minutes for Colombia in their 0-1 win over Ecuador.

Premier Talk: By to Poch and José is back!

TalkSporting – Eddie Had A Dream

I had a busy afternoon yesterday. TalkSport had invited me onto their sofa to answer some questions about Eddie Had A Dream. The Hawksbee and Jacobs' Show was my destination, although Max Rushden was filling in for Paul Hawksbee.

Outside the News Building at London Bridge.

The newspapers are big around here.

I walked past the News Building first, to get an idea of where I had to go and through the glass walls I could see Westlife clearly getting ready to do an interview - star stuck already. Ever feel that you don't belong in this world, and in these glamorous surroundings?

Any way, I had to go in and get my security pass before being taken up to the 17th floor the TalkSport studio. I made my way through the reception and main lobby which had a selection of Sun newspaper headlines all lit up on six foot tall plaques - impressive!

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

Once I reached the right floor, I was escorted to the green room where I was told I had a few minutes before going live on air. I quickly took in my surroundings - a couple of sofas and some pictures on the wall and the coffee machine. No evidence of all night parties!

Not a busy green room - just me and my tea and a couple of cushions.

Five minutes to go - no backing out now!

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!

While you prepare for these things as best you can nothing ever takes you breath away than going into the studio and meeting celebrities. Max Rushden offered a handshake before Andy Jacobs and with the greetings done, Max got to work. How long did it take you to write this book? "Too long," I replied honestly! That kind of broke the ice and Andy Jacobs started one of his infectious laughs.

I wondered how hard the questions might be to answer, but I needn't have worried. Max and Jason were interested in whether Eddie Howe would stay at AFCB or jump ship to a Tottenham or Everton? They also quizzed me on why I wanted to write the book on such a Mr Nice guy? I hadn't expected the question to be put that way, but got around to finding an answer as best I could.

Jason Cundy has a beloved Chelsea shirt on the wall and Alan Brazil has his signed Ipswich top. In between the sign reads, "Don't just appear... You have to perform. No pressure then!

I was pleased that Andy Jacobs asked me about Julia's House Children's Charity which will receive 15 per cent of my earnings of Eddie Had A Dream and soon found myself responding to how I manage to write for a magazine title called International Cement Review? Max said that would be a good Have I good News for You item - I told him similar titles had been on the show, but I stopped short of telling him the name of one of our competition titles - as I think I might have lost direction of the interview by then. Just between you and me, an opposition magazine is called 'Global Slag!'

Any way, if you missed me on air you can catch it here on this link. One phrase I'll have to master is a leaf out of his book! - perhaps I was nervous LoL.

The Who's Who wall.. If you look carefully you can see me in the image - mirrors you know.

Also I have a snippet from the book here with AFCB's first Premier League win.

Please order a copy of Eddie Had A Dream if you can - we want to get the donation up for Julia's House Children's Hospice as high as we can.

In other news, Josh King scored last night for Norway in their win 1-2 over Malta.

Ramsdale keeps his sensational form going

While most of Bournemouth's players are finding consistency very difficult to get from their performances, Aaron Ramsdale just keeps getting better. He had a great game against Newcastle United and followed it up with a clean sheet against Albania for England's U21s.

Aaron Ramsdale is getting a reputation at a top stopper.

The form of Aaron has just been off the scale since he took the number one jersey at AFCB. While Gareth Southgate has given Nick Pope a trial in the full England team, he might be well advised to take more of an interest in Aron Ramsdale for next summer if he feels Jordan Pickford is a potential weak link in his side.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

There is not much more Aaron can do than keep playing at his next level. Some of the saves against Newcastle United were just exceptional, like taking the ball off Allan Saint-Maximan's toes when he was clean through on goal. Ramsdale just becomes a wall when he is second favourite to come out on top and his positioning in goal is what makes him such a hard keeper to beat I feel.

Advertsiement

Whether other clubs will start looking at Ramsdale is something I am beginning to wonder about. While Manchester United are strengthening their team by looking for a centre-forward, they may also be on the look out for a younger understudy to David de Gea, while Spurs have lost Hugo Lloris this season at Spurs so there are potential vacancies starting to appear in the goal keeper sector for top clubs, which has been quite rare in recent times. At least AFCB have good back up options in Boruc and Mark Travers at the moment, but so far this season it is hard to look beyond Aaron Ramsdale as Bournemouth's most influential player for the first few months of the season. Keep it up Aaron!

Is Harry Wilson making the grade yet?

Harry Wilson was again on the international stage playing for Wales this weekend against Azerbaijan and was instrumental in helping Wales get their group E win. Harry took the corner for the 10th minute goal headed in by Keiffer Moore. Then he was the quickest to react to Dan James' spectacular shot off the left wing that bounced out from the frame of the goal and Wilson headed Wales into a 0-2 away lead. As an international game, it couldn't have gone much better for Harry Wilson and team-mate Chris Mepham.

Harry Wilson warms up before taking on Man Utd this season.

What Liverpool see as Harry Wilson's ling term future has not been made obvious yet. Having allowed him to step up from Derby County in the Championship to Bournemouth in the Premier League is a solid career progression. But what happens when Harry's time is up at Bournemouth? Can Liverpool offer him a starting place and will Harry be satisfied to perhaps be a sub at Anfield rather than a starter?

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

I ams sure Harry will want to play and he may have to decide himself if he is going to get the break he needs at Liverpool. In a recent interview he said Jurgen Klopp does look at his games and remarks on them as he did when Harry scored that great free kick against Man City. The free kick striking that Harry has shown has been fantastic and he seems confident of making keeper's work.

Advertisement

Harry was unlucky not to get on the score sheet again in the Azerbaijan match in the second half after some 56 minutes when he cut on from the left and then stepped back on to his left foot to his a sharp low shot across goal that Balayev in the Azerbaijan goal only just kept out with a super one handed save to his left. Scoring regularly is starting to come to Harry's game though and Bournemouth are in a great position to benefit from that this season. Whether AFCB would like to hold on to him though is not clear. I think he is a great talent and yet he has more to do to win some fans over both at Liverpool and AFCB. The Welsh fans may already feel that he is a great addition to their squad for many years to come.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream eBook version -available now!

If you have a spare hour or two today, come along to Ashley Heath Car Boot sale today on Homeland Farm, where I'll have lots of copies of Eddie Had A Dream on sale for just £10!