Monday 23 February 2015

AFCB have to tighten up at the back

The scoreline from Griffin Park sounds worse than how close the game really was. These were two sides who were going to score goals and it was not a big surprise that one of the teams let in three goals. It was the manner of conceding the goals that was disappointing and AFCB have work to do on getting back to being hard to score against.
There is nowhere to hide when you make a mistake in goal.
The first goal that Brentford scored was particularly poor from a Cherries point of view. The way in which Kermorgant lost the ball on the edge of the area was the first mistake and when the cross came in there were at least four players closing in on the ball who could not get a decisive clearance in. I expect Douglas could not believe his luck when he had been given a free ticket to score.

We can criticise Artur Boruc for not watching the flight of the ball well enough on Pritchard's deftly struck free kick, but I think the simplicity of the save was the undoing of the Polish keeper. He had too much time to make the save and thought it routine and with that he promptly got the decision wrong and misjudged the flight of the ball and his punch was just what Brentford needed to guide the ball in. However, the aspect that Eddie Howe will question is why did Callum Wilson make a late challenge on Alan Judge just before half time in a good shooting position for the Bees. It invited pressure on the team at the wrong time in the game and the punishment was very heavy.
Artur will have Lee Camp breathing down his neck now.
As for the final goal, it was just a case of when Brentford would get their third in this final 10 minutes. AFCB were really chasing the game and with so many opportunities for Brentford to put away the final goal it was just a surprise that it took them so many goes. Artur Boruc had reason to up his game in the second half and for him it was just a shame that his late heroics were not enough to pull his team back from defeat.

AFCB have to tighten up fast as Nottingham Forest are another team that are now playing with confidence and the City ground will not be an easy place to go and visit on Wednesday.

All Departments has a podcast about the Cherries performance at Brentford available to listen to on its website now. You can also listen by going to the side panel on Cherry Chimes and clicking on the All Departments' sound bar.

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