Thursday 1 February 2018

Bournemouth have found their way to play

The strength of Bournemouth's performance against Chelsea was remarkable because as fans we have known they have had such a performance in them, and yet we have seen the players struggle to get everything clicking at the same time against the very best sides. Well, the stars or should I say moon was aligned with Bournemouth last night and this is a template for pattern of play that Eddie Howe will now try and repeat for more big wins.
The Cherries find winning is possible even against the top six sides.
It wasn't just that Bournemouth won by a quick last minute pinched goal that they hung on to, they had a period in the second half when they walked the goals in. The goal by Nathan Aké to finish off the evening was just picturesque and you couldn't have wanted the ball to fall to anyone else but Nathan Aké. Nathan has now scored two valuable Premier League goals, but he was celebrating this latest goal like he had always been a Bournemouth player because it felt that sweet to him.

The balance of the team though is what Eddie Howe has now found. There was always a strong heart beat and the will to do well, but not all the parts were as strong as each other and it might just be that the current starting 11 tick all the boxes. I am often asked to pick Bournemouth's strongest side and in this 3-4-3 system there are no stars but just players who do their job in the system. There were no weak links and just a real togetherness and single purpose about their play.
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When you are in a team that is playing like this though on the night it must be just a joy to be on the field. Everything was going well but Bournemouth worked hard in the first half to win that right and even when they lost possession they were organised and disciplined to be compact and keep their shape. Begovic also came up with the saves he needed to and gathered the ball safely.

Eddie Howe must be so pleased with how the team played and that he has the players that can get a result like 0-3 against Chelsea. Now it is about hitting those levels consistently and to become a club that doesn't look back, but keeps on trying to improve.

T-Shirt update
Apparently there were 13 corner last night, not 12, so as we did not have a winner last week, rather than have a draw for the two correct guesses, I'll send them both a Cherry Chimes T-Shirt on such a great night!

Well done to Robert Murphy @Robafcb13 and Philip Baxter @Baxt16

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