Burnley v AFCB - Match Report and MOM

The Comeback Kids do it again

The last game of the season was played in sunny and warm conditions. As has been the norm recently the Cherries played with five at the back with Tyrone Mings replacing Captain Francis. A new midfield partnership, with Surman being paired with Hyndman, started the game. Up front were Mousset on the left, King in the centre and Ibe on the right.

The game started at a fast pace with both side pushing forward looking for a goal. Burnley rely on long passes over the defending full backs and crosses into the box and were very effective for much of the game without really getting any clear cut chances to score. Perhaps that is why they haven’t got many goals this season.

Bournemouth were attacking spasmodically but one chance fell to Mousset who hit a searing shot on goal only to see the impressive Pope, in the Burnley goal, get a hand to it to push it wide. Most of the traffic, however, was going the other way with the Bournemouth forwards frustratingly giving the ball away on too many occasions.

When the much deserved Burnley goal came, as half time approached, it was a bizarre affair and had a great slice of luck attached to it. A cross found Burnley Man of the Match, Westwood, in space in penalty area. His shot, which would probably missed the corner flag flew across the area and struck WOOD on the shins and flashed into the net.

Half time: Burnley 1 AFCB 0

The second half followed much the same pattern with high being flung to wingers by the Burnley team only for their attacks to fall down on the edge of the area. The Bournemouth team would then push it forward, only for the front three to give it up easily.

However, on 60 minutes Eddie made two substitutions with Gosling coming on for the promising Hyndman and Wilson replacing the misfiring Mousset. Straightaway there was a difference with Wilson’s pace causing the Burnley defence a moment of panic with a quick run on the right but the resulting cross came to nothing.

On 66 minutes there was a moment of concern when Mings went down in our box. The referee, who was truly rubbish, let play continue and allowed Burnley to make two dangerous tackles without sanction before the ball went out for a throw. Mings stayed down for several minutes and looked like he wanted to carry on. The decision to take him off and replace him with Defoe had already been made. This turned out to be the turning of the game.

From this time on Bournemouth pressed on and caused problems for the home team. Firstly, on 73 minutes Defoe broke through and had a fierce shot at goal turned away spectacularly by Pope. However, the ball wasn’t completely cleared and ended up with KING on the left. His sumptuous curling shot found the top of the net.

It was becoming a really open game at this point and either could have taken the win, if only they would get something on target. A Wilson shot had the home keeper hurrying across his but it missed, narrowly. Bournemouth should have a penalty late on when King was clearly impeded in the penalty area. Instead of falling over, like most players nowadays, he tried to keep going and this obviously gave the useless official a reason not to give it.

The winner came, in time added on, when Long slipped about thirty yards out and was dispossessed by Defoe who then headed straight toward the goal. Everybody thought that he would shoot and score but he slipped a pass to WILSON, who was roaring up alongside him, to slide the ball home.

The Comeback Kids had done it again!!!!

Full time: Burnley 1 AFCB 2

Begovic 7 I honestly can’t remember having to make a serious save but he was good in the air and commanded his box. There was one hilarious incident in front of us which involved a spectacular fall over.

Fraser 6 He is not a full back or wing back but he worked his socks off and even won a header but he was often caught by the long ball over him
Cook 7 Another solid performance for the team with no glaring errors this week.
Ake 7 His distribution wasn’t as good as usual but with Cook kept it solid at the back. It did seem that, early in the second half, before Mings went he might just have moved to just in front of a back four.
Mings 6 He didn’t look entirely comfortable but did his job well apart from one or two poor passes.
Daniels 7 got forward quite a bit and caused problems for Burnley but it really didn’t work out too well with partnering with either Mousset or Ibe. More productive when King went onto the left.

Hyndman 7 I thought he played quite well with some nice passes and he got his foot into some good tackles although the Burnley midfield certainly had more control of the ball.
Surman 7 I don’t he played badly but the poor holding up of the ball by our forwards always put him under pressure. Some nice touches towards the end of the game.

Ibe 4 I thought he was terrible. Couldn’t hold up the ball, gave the ball away almost every time, never goes into a fifty fifty tackle and his one shot was woeful.
King 8 Got better as the game went on, took his goal really well, should have had a penalty and was a thorn in the Burnley side, especially when went onto the left side.
Mousset 5 Not a great day for him. Gave the ball away too easily and didn’t really get into the game enough. He has a lot of nice touches but most don’t come off. A very impact player but is he a starter yet?

Gosling 7 Did well when he came on and kept the midfield a lot tighter.
Wilson 7 Made a couple of good runs, missed narrowly with a sharp shot and scored the winner, breaking his goal scoring drought. What’s not to like.
Defoe 8 His introduction changed the game and ultimately provided us with the win. Made the difference at the end.

VERDICT

Bettered by Burnley for much of the game late goals brought the win. The stats show that we had more shots and more on target than the home team but it didn’t really feel like that at the time. Burnley have scored only 36 goals and you see why. They are very organised and have set ways of getting the ball into the danger area but no one to finish their approach work. Bournemouth, on the other hand, do not appear to have a plan and the approach work is so slow you could go and have a cup of tea, cook the dinner, and swim 200 metres in the pool, before the final ball is given away. But we have this knack of pushing forward more as the game goes and scoring important late goals. Finishing 12th is no disgrace, especially after our poor start to the season. This morning I read Neil Dawson’s report when we lost 2-0 to Barnet at home under Captain Quinn. WE must not lose sight of where we have come from and continue to enjoy out time in the Premier League. BRING ON SEASON 4.

MOM

I am going to give my MOM to Jermaine Defoe. His appearance changed the game. I do get frustrated with him at times but today he galvanised the attack and was heavily involved in both goals.
 
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I must have had a dodgy stream as i thought Ibe played ok and Hyndman was terrible!.....:D....interestingly Sky gave Ibe a 9 !!!.....don't think he was that good though.....maybe 8 1/2...;)
 
He did give the ball away but he also made things happen a few times. He put in one brilliant cross in the first half where the three AFCB players in the box just stood and watch rather than gambling and running forward to the six yard box. If any of them had, it was pretty much a goal. The balance of the mix still isn't quite in his favour but you expect good and bad from this type of player. A six today for me.

Good report although I think a little kind to Burnley in places. You also missed the absolute stonewall penalty the ref didn't give. Luckily it didn't matter in the end so will be forgotten by most when they look back at the match. As we were losing at the time, it could have been another crucial error.
 
To be honest, apart from 10mins before half time I don’t recall much threat from Burnley. At the end we were the only team who wanted to win it and I felt the late goal was fully deserved.
 
You also missed the absolute stonewall penalty the ref didn't give. Luckily it didn't matter in the end so will be forgotten by most when they look back at the match. As we were losing at the time, it could have been another crucial error.

I think you missed a paragraph. :utc:
 
I didn't think we were bettered by Burnley at all. It was a ding dong game but we certainly gave as good as we got.

Cook did make a couple of glaring errors first half and Ibe wasn't that bad. I also thought Hyndman did ok.

I can see why you thought Mousset didn't play well but I do think he brings something different to our game - I'm excited to see how he gets on next season.
 
Had a great day ooop in Burnley. Friendly folk, good fans, had a cracking homemade Steak and pepper pie, chips peas and gravy in Di's Diner. Parked in a car park next to Gala Bingo, ( free : ), that saved £20, thank you very much). Their visiting wheelchair facilities and stewards are not the best, certainly not Premier League, more reminiscent of Tranmere.

Thought our make shift team played very well against an organised and well drilled Burnley side. T'Pope had to make more and better quality saves than Asmir. Some committed performances for an end of term show. The Burnley fans we spoke to post match were very complimentary about us and thought we deserved our win.

No clappers, no Caroline, both sets of fans managed to create an atmosphere : )

I enjoyed the season overall but I am a self confessed Happy claptard or Half glass full mong : )
 
Ibe much better than an a 4, I thought he played pretty well. Was the penalty incident a fair bit earlier before the equaliser?
 
I thought Ibe was ok while Mousset had a shocker. Hyndman did ok considering his lack of football but all three subs made the difference, Defoe and Wilson obviously but Gosling played very well I thought.
Maybe because the result didn't matter much, but I felt very relaxed and never thought Burnley battered us. In fact I dont remember Bego making a save of note.
Good atmosphere especially at the end!
 
Interested to hear Hyndman getting on ok. I find it hard to gauge what our expectations for him should be, having seen so little of him. I read yesterday that it was his PL debut for us? Two years in and just making his league debut. Is he now a realistic option for more regular starts next season? Or should we just expect him to be farmed out on loan or playing develop games for another year? It's an area of the pitch we need more from, and with more likely Arter leaving, it would be good to have an option already waiting in the wings.
 
I thought he was a bit lightweight and looked a bit nervous at first but he grew into the game quite well. He did win the ball back a few times and got forward well at times. Dare I say he looked to get into the box more than Cook and Surman - something that only Gozza has given us up to now. To be fair though this may have coincided with the start of the second half when Ake was pushed into defensive midfield so Cook in the same circumstances may also be able to get forward more.

My view on him as a genuine starter is that I'm not sure he'll cut it in a two man midfield although in fairness I think you could say that about a few of our midfielders. Hyndman is certainly not one to write off but I think we need a big signing there which might mean he'll need to go elsewhere on loan to get some games.
 
With Hyndman, I'm not too sure what more development games or even games on loan at a lower standard of football will do to help him get to where he needs to be.

Really, we need him to be competing for a starting midfield spot right from the start of next season. Its an important off season for Hyndman. If he can do a bit of work in the gym and bulk up slightly, then hopefully he'll be ready to make a strong impression during pre-season.
 
I thought he was a bit lightweight and looked a bit nervous at first but he grew into the game quite well. He did win the ball back a few times and got forward well at times. Dare I say he looked to get into the box more than Cook and Surman - something that only Gozza has given us up to now. To be fair though this may have coincided with the start of the second half when Ake was pushed into defensive midfield so Cook in the same circumstances may also be able to get forward more.

My view on him as a genuine starter is that I'm not sure he'll cut it in a two man midfield although in fairness I think you could say that about a few of our midfielders. Hyndman is certainly not one to write off but I think we need a big signing there which might mean he'll need to go elsewhere on loan to get some games.

"ake was pushed into defensive mid"

missed this - how did it work?
 
"ake was pushed into defensive mid"

missed this - how did it work?

It didn't last too long because he had to drop back when Mings went off. He looked ok but gave the ball away cheaply a couple of times. He does read the game well and can recover from mistakes etc. quickly but we didn't exactly dominate the midfield battle during this period. He did allow the other midfielders to get forward more but as Howe said we were a better side after the subs came on.

I've seen him twice in this position from memory. At Everton for ten minutes, which
was a disaster, and yesterday which was inconclusive. He could be a world beater there but I think he'd be a big loss from the back line.
 
Some of the great ball playing defenders have had the ability to step out of the defensive line and push into midfield for parts of a game. Ake playing in the centre of a back 3 gives him the opportunity to do that.

I'm not sure we'll see Ake playing a fixed defensive midfield role, but allowing him the chance to step out as and when he see's fit would make our overall play less static.
 
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Hyndman men did ok in the first half, but gave the ball away about 5 times in short order at the beginning of the 2nd half; no surprised see him subbed. Mousset was unlucky not to score in the first half but then faded. For me the thing we didn't do enough of was to get Fraser running onto the ball at pace. It happened a few times but far too often he was going from a standing start and was ineffective. A decent performance from the team overall , and if there was one position highlighted for improvement it was right back-every Burnley move looked to attack us there.
 
Well we didn’t play with a right back so of course Burnley were going to attack there. However, apart from the goal they barely created a chance so it couldn’t have been that bad.

Had we played a back 4 with Francis at RB, Burnley’s game plan would have failed. I thought our defensive shape was really good yesterday despite a makeshift team. Fraser is our 3rd choice RB. Personally I think we have more to worry about than a 3rd choice RB this window!
 
Well we didn’t play with a right back so of course Burnley were going to attack there. However, apart from the goal they barely created a chance so it couldn’t have been that bad.

Had we played a back 4 with Francis at RB, Burnley’s game plan would have failed. I thought our defensive shape was really good yesterday despite a makeshift team. Fraser is our 3rd choice RB. Personally I think we have more to worry about than a 3rd choice RB this window!

In my mind we played with a back four in the second half with Fraser at RB, which is why he didn't get forward as much.

Funny how we all always see different formations.
 

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