Tuesday 21 November 2017

Howe still seeks full potential from his side

Eddie Howe made some interesting comments after the Huddersfield win about the team not actually having played well, and still looking forward to seeing the full potential of the side. The first half an hour was certainly a less than polished performance by AFCB, but we have to give Huddersfield some credit for the way they stared the match.
Eddie Howe has masterminded an improvement in AFCB's performances,
but he's insistent that the side has not reached it's full potential yet.
Bournemouth were second to most balls, and they found it really hard to pick up the tempo at first in the Huddersfield game. It took some crunch tackles to get some life into the passing and energy running through the team. Eddie was right in that the goals came at good times, but the first goal was particularly important considering how far off the pace Bournemouth were up to that point. The Cherries have had slow starts in their last two games, and I think there is a sense that they are not playing well for 90 minutes yet and there is more to come.

The line up of the team is becoming more settled which I am very pleased about. While Simon Francis will miss the next game for his disciplinary record, Adam Smith will fill in and is likely to carry more of a threat going forward in my view than Francis. There is more possibilities when Tyrone Mings returns to fitness, but he'll have his work cut out to oust Aké or Steve Cook in the centre of defence.

Where there may be some more change is if Junior Stanislas becomes available again and if Ryan Fraser can force his way back into contention. I've not seen Ibe carry on his early season form and if his knee injury is worrying him we could see a change there. The big puzzle though is how to get the best out of Defoe and possible Afobe. If Howe can make them into super subs, then Bournemouth will be a team that doesn't give any opponent a rest.

I don't want AFCB to be over reliant on King and Wilson. It is great that Eddie can pick them together again, but we know that the partnership has not always seen that many games and AFCB need to get more aspects of the team functioning to the level we are currently seeing from the two front men.

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