AFCB all time Premier League XI

DJ

DJ

Moderator
With the sensational win the other day and looking at the current league table and no immediate upcoming game for us, I started to ponder who from the current squad would get into the Cherries XI from the previous Premier League period, Eddie Howe’s squads between 2015-2020.

Initially I thought it would be a proper mix match, but the more I thought, I still found myself picking most of the players from Howe’s sides.

So my first draft XI

—————-Boruc
Smith—-Cook——Ake——Daniels
————Arter——Christie
Semenyo———————-King
————-Wilson—-Solanke

Smith straddling both eras, Solanke 2.0 up top with Wilson, two midfield terriers from both sides and slightly swayed by the second half against Luton and the want of getting more Iraola’s faces in there Semenyo on the right wing.

I could easily be persuaded otherwise, by others thoughts…
 
This is so tough as Eddie's team was always more the sum of the parts.

I would have Surman or Cook in there to do the boring stuff as Arter and Christie are not really the players to cover full backs as play evolves.

I couldnt leave out the Daniels Pugh partnership either.

...can we pick 14 players?
 
DJ said:
With the sensational win the other day and looking at the current league table and no immediate upcoming game for us, I started to ponder who from the current squad would get into the Cherries XI from the previous Premier League period, Eddie Howe’s squads between 2015-2020.

Initially I thought it would be a proper mix match, but the more I thought, I still found myself picking most of the players from Howe’s sides.

So my first draft XI

—————-Boruc
Smith—-Cook——Ake——Daniels
————Arter——Christie
Semenyo———————-King
————-Wilson—-Solanke

Smith straddling both eras, Solanke 2.0 up top with Wilson, two midfield terriers from both sides and slightly swayed by the second half against Luton and the want of getting more Iraola’s faces in there Semenyo on the right wing.

I could easily be persuaded otherwise, by others thoughts…
Click to expand...

Boruc was regularly prone to errors in the PL and would be hounded out at the present level of supporter entitlement. I think both Neto and (current) Travers are better overall. Travers is an exceptional shot stopper his size means he gets to things Boruc could only dream of.

Agree with Cherry warrior that Zabs is better than prime Cookie.

I think Lerma's proved himself more than Arter in the PL. Present day Lewis Cook is also an upgrade there.

King was good for 1 season. Arguably Pugh, Fr*ser or Brooks should be there based on performances.

Obviously S Cook and Arter are absolute club legends, but in terms of quality we've definitely upgraded since.
 
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I certainly dabbled with the idea of Zabarnyi over Cook, I think he’s very nearly there.

As for balance of the central midfield, I’m going with artistic licence there and going with peak Arter in those games where he was truly world class.
 
Oh dear Lord Harry Rock... What a pointless exercise !
Oh bugger it..not withstanding any contrivance or disengenuity i'll endeavor to join in the Spirit of the Thing.

That 1st draft 11 are about On the Money id say if you added say Pugh, Surman and Gosling as Subs...
...but I can't help myself with this..
...I'd take out Wilson and Solanke and put McDougal and Boyer up front ! :throw:
 
DJ said:
I certainly dabbled with the idea of Zabarnyi over Cook, I think he’s very nearly there.

As for balance of the central midfield, I’m going with artistic licence there and going with peak Arter in those games where he was truly world class.
Click to expand...

It's all about opinions and an interesting debate. If we were going for an XI based on peak performances (1 or 2 games) I'd have to rethink everything.
 
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DJ said:
I certainly dabbled with the idea of Zabarnyi over Cook, I think he’s very nearly there.

As for balance of the central midfield, I’m going with artistic licence there and going with peak Arter in those games where he was truly world class.
Click to expand...
I'm a huge Arter fan, he was my favourite player for a long time. But to say he is 'truly world class' is going massively OTT. Great player but wouldn't get anywhere near any of the top sides across Europe. I suppose it also boils down to what criteria you consider world class to be
 
CherriesOnTop said:
I'm a huge Arter fan, he was my favourite player for a long time. But to say he is 'truly world class' is going massively OTT. Great player but wouldn't get anywhere near any of the top sides across Europe. I suppose it also boils down to what criteria you consider world class to be
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He had a spell where his performances were world class. The best individual performances ever seen at Dean Court.
 
DJ said:
A discussion on AFCB on an AFCB forum, for fun. Sums you up that you’d moan about that.


in the Premier League. At least read it properly if you’re going to moan.
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Blimey...I was only joking tbh and tbf wise..it wasn't exactly a moan !
If we are to have a humourless break running parallel to the fixture break ..so be it.
 
Garbo said:
FWIW

Ramsdale
Francis
Zarbarnyi
Ake
Daniels
Pugh
Cook
Christie
King
Wilson
Solanke
Click to expand...

I read that and thought it was excellent but then I couldn’t figure out what system it was? King shoehorned into right wing to keep the Daniels/Pugh left flank?
 
Maybe we need a convoluted points system... number of appearances x points won x clean sheets x phase of the moon
 
This is really tough. There's the rose-tinted aspect of looking back at Eddie's team and our first foray into the PL, and then there are careers in the current team that are still to play out fully.

I suspect that, if Andoni's team stays together for any length of time, most of the spots in an all time PL XI are going to be filled by current players. I think the individual quality is better now and as someone said above, Eddie's team was more than the sum of its parts.

As for DJ's first draft, I would probably swap Zab for Cook and Lerma for Arter. For a bit more balance in that formation, I might opt also for Pugh over King. That's not to denigrate King, but for me he's competing with Wilson and Solanke.

I feel like Semenyo is a pick on current form and long may that continue. However, if we were picking an all time PL XI this time last year, Tav would probably have been in it.

And I'd have Ramsdale in goal.
 
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