wingsnwheels
Star Player
Nathan Ake has a good footballing brain, I'd certainly like to see him in an attacking midfield role, getting forwards in support of the strikers. Something to work on for next season?
Eddie is hurt
- Thread starter clintclease
- Start date
Garbo
UTC Legend
...think athleticism is a good description, something we have lacked since Harry Arter has been missing.
Strangely, we lack the combative type of player that most teams seem to have in their ranks in The PL at present
...hopefully we can pick up someone in the summer window?
Eddie does seem to like his wingers though!
Strangely, we lack the combative type of player that most teams seem to have in their ranks in The PL at present
...hopefully we can pick up someone in the summer window?
Eddie does seem to like his wingers though!
If Adam Smith is fit I would play him at left back in place of Charlie Daniels.
As a group we are too nice. We need to develop a meaner streak. Southern softies. Get easily shoved off the ball and don't legally put hard tackles in. Teams probably look forward to playing us.
OLDSKOOL
Fans' Favourite
Interesting comments in the Mail’s The Verdict from the reporter covering the match - Howe has potentially heart-wrenching decisions to make this summer - must consider defensive upgrades -Ake head and shoulders above the rest - continuity from the 2015 championship side has given us a platform in the PL but comes a time when you have to move on .
So it’s not just us who can see it .
UTCIAD.
AFCBade
UTC Legend
Agree re priorities. Not replaced arter or wilshere in the squad and not Marc Wilson who gave right side defensive cover at full back/centre half. Worried stanislas only gives us half a season too.
northstandmark
UTC Legend
At our best we've always thrown in a few direct balls into the channels for King or Wilson or Grabban to chase. Playing through midfield 90% of the time but mixing it up with maybe half a dozen Cookie, Franno or Surman long rang balls in each game.
This season we've done this much less, and always look to play through the middle. Even when playing middle a 2 and a front 3, which would make a direct channel ball potentially even more likely successful, compared to playing through midfield.
And when playing a more 4-4-2, we've even more than previous seasons tried to turn King into some kind of Kaka or Rui Costa number 10 by giving him the ball deep and expecting him to make magic, when in reality he needs to be working the channels.
Things have just become generally a bit confused this season. If the players in the thick of it aren't totally sure what system or style they're supposed to be playing I suppose I can't fully blame them, because I have often struggled to make sense of it from the raised viewpoint of the stand.
We're kind of stuck between two generations of players, and two systems of play, at a cross roads. It's down to Eddie and Jase to sit down this summer and make some decisions, and take us down one road or another.
In All Departments
First Team
Eddie has a right to expect better but he'll know that he - and we - are entering a critical phase of his career and of our Premier League existence.
As fritter has put on the PL thread, Eddie knows that the core of the team who carried us up the leagues is inevitably fading - and with it our uniqueness, the incredibly overachieving band of brothers. Eddie is doing all he can to keep that spirit (eg showing new signings videos of our story) but it can never be the same.
Then comes the issue of who he can sign - who will come to Bournemouth and fit the ethos. I don't want to be drawn into a list of signings that are perceived successes or failures but the fact that we discuss that so often is a demonstration of just how difficult it is.
Finally, our major assets, eg Ake and Cook, will move on, almost certainly sooner than we want them to and they'll leave massive gaps in the squad. They haven't signed for the journey - quite rightly - they've signed presumably because they see us as an excellent stepping stone to greater things.
I think Eddie's hurt and frustration is very closely connected to ours. It's been brewing all season but was crystallised on Saturday at St Mary's which I think is why we're all hurting. Maybe a win would have further papered over the cracks and as someone else has put it, maybe this defeat will end up being a necessary part of the way forward. It is the end of an era and how he manages the next 12 months will go a long way towards defining the latter part of his career and our future.
I believe he'll succeed. UTCIAD.
As fritter has put on the PL thread, Eddie knows that the core of the team who carried us up the leagues is inevitably fading - and with it our uniqueness, the incredibly overachieving band of brothers. Eddie is doing all he can to keep that spirit (eg showing new signings videos of our story) but it can never be the same.
Then comes the issue of who he can sign - who will come to Bournemouth and fit the ethos. I don't want to be drawn into a list of signings that are perceived successes or failures but the fact that we discuss that so often is a demonstration of just how difficult it is.
Finally, our major assets, eg Ake and Cook, will move on, almost certainly sooner than we want them to and they'll leave massive gaps in the squad. They haven't signed for the journey - quite rightly - they've signed presumably because they see us as an excellent stepping stone to greater things.
I think Eddie's hurt and frustration is very closely connected to ours. It's been brewing all season but was crystallised on Saturday at St Mary's which I think is why we're all hurting. Maybe a win would have further papered over the cracks and as someone else has put it, maybe this defeat will end up being a necessary part of the way forward. It is the end of an era and how he manages the next 12 months will go a long way towards defining the latter part of his career and our future.
I believe he'll succeed. UTCIAD.
Tinpot Club
Star Player
This point is key. I've been quite vocal about Eddie's insistence on 4-4-2, but what is worth remembering is that we have a relatively aged squad with primarily a lower league upbringing. This includes the management team too. Its no surprise that 4-4-2 is the default safe option as its what most will be familiar with.
As we look to replace the old guard, we need to realise the calibre of player we want to attract won't have been schooled in the 4-4-2 so much. Whether that be someone from abroad or a younger player from the English academy system, they will be more familiar with a more modern approach.
wimborne cherries
First Team
It pains me too say it but Eddie must be questioned after this performance. Even now, 2 days late, it's still hard to believe how bad we were.
Yes the players are partly to blame due to lack of effort from some however it's Eddie's job to motivate these players and if he can't motivate them for what was probably, whether Soton fans like it or not, one of the biggest games of both clubs season, then I'm sorry but something is clearly wrong behind the scenes.
Yes the players are partly to blame due to lack of effort from some however it's Eddie's job to motivate these players and if he can't motivate them for what was probably, whether Soton fans like it or not, one of the biggest games of both clubs season, then I'm sorry but something is clearly wrong behind the scenes.
Neil Dawson
UTC Legend
You can play 4-4-2 at a high level but only if you defend and hold back and play on break like Leicester or Athletico Madrid did. Our way of playing it in championship was to drop Surman into the hole created by the full backs being up the pitch and relied on blowing teams away with the overload. After that first year in the Prem Eddie rightly realised this was too brave for the Premier League and signed Wilshere. That gave him 4-5-1 and the players to play it.
We actually looked very comfortable that way until Xmas when we were 9th but after a few defeats moved back to 4-4-2 but crucially with Afobe as the deeper hold up outlet and King playing off and ahead of him. This worked too. Square pegs and all that...
This season Eddie returned to 4-4-2 with Wilson off King...the formation that gave King his worst run in season 1. We lost both players form as a result. He then fell out with Arter (or vice versa) the player that had the speed and energy to make a two man midfield work and find a forward pass. Surman and a Gosling are inferior replacements and not suited to a two at this level. He then insisted on playing Franno at right back with Smith on the bench. He then kept trying to switch to 3-4-3 to get Smith in but this didn’t solve the midfield two and the players best suited for wide up front (Ibe and Stan) were sacrificed to play three centre forwards all of whom play the role like centre forwards looking to lay off rather than drop into the spaces, turn and run at people. To make matters worse one of these forwards is Defoe who exists for balls across the box that we don’t do as we have two centre forwards along side him.
When this doesn’t work we go back to 4-4-2 and the whole thing starts all over again.
There is no ‘correct’ formation. You have to pick the one that suits your best players or sign players to fit a system you want to play.
That’s the two choices. For the first year in his career Eddie has done neither which is his sole issue to solve in the summer.
4-3-3 or 4-5-1 (which is often same thing but you can swap midfelders in for wingers against top teams) and sign a Jay Rodriguez to allow you to also play 4-4-2. That gives you the right options.
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OLDSKOOL
Fans' Favourite
This .
In All Departments
First Team
"There is no ‘correct’ formation. You have to pick the one that suits your best players or sign players to fit a system you want to play.
That’s the two choices. For the first year in his career Eddie has done neither which is his sole issue to solve in the summer."
Very true Neil. I'll also throw in philosophy... I know you can't play for 90 minutes like we did in the last 10, it just doesn't work that way and we'd be picked off all over the place but sometimes, just sometimes throw it at them. I watched our first game at the Olympic Stadium (when we lost 1-0) with a West Ham fan when we did something similar. His words were to the effect that if we'd got the ball into the box more often we'd have murdered them, instead of playing as a mini-Arsenal.
Saints are very weak at the back and were panic-stricken. Eddie doesn't have to change his philosophy... but perhaps adapt it a little.
That’s the two choices. For the first year in his career Eddie has done neither which is his sole issue to solve in the summer."
Very true Neil. I'll also throw in philosophy... I know you can't play for 90 minutes like we did in the last 10, it just doesn't work that way and we'd be picked off all over the place but sometimes, just sometimes throw it at them. I watched our first game at the Olympic Stadium (when we lost 1-0) with a West Ham fan when we did something similar. His words were to the effect that if we'd got the ball into the box more often we'd have murdered them, instead of playing as a mini-Arsenal.
Saints are very weak at the back and were panic-stricken. Eddie doesn't have to change his philosophy... but perhaps adapt it a little.
I think we all agree on some element of "upgrading" in certain positions but there is only so much in the pot and gambles like Ibe could prove costly. None of us know what is going on behind the scenes but it could end up with spend on players and stay in the golden trough or patch up build a new stadium.
The first part of the legacy should be the training ground for the future because with I believe 300 houses being built close by the present lack of action looks like the training ground could be the get out of jail card for the owners if it all goes belly up. Sadly one season regardless it will be we are just 1of 11 trying not to be the bottom 3.
The first part of the legacy should be the training ground for the future because with I believe 300 houses being built close by the present lack of action looks like the training ground could be the get out of jail card for the owners if it all goes belly up. Sadly one season regardless it will be we are just 1of 11 trying not to be the bottom 3.
We might “have enough in attack” possibly but Wilson has ‘nt performed for ages.King comes and goes,Mousset is an unknown and Defoe doesn’t fit in with current tactics and none of them can hold the ball up.So if it’s not their fault then the problem must lie with the supply lines and the service?
Tinpot Club
Star Player
I really don’t understand what’s gone wrong with Wilson recently. Physically he looks back to his best, in fact he’s probably stronger now than ever. However, since Chelsea he can’t trap a bag of cement let alone hit a barn door. Hopefully he can refind his confidence in pre-season
I thought we had actually purchased part of the old Canford Magna Golf Club.
johnbob
Star Player
Are main problem is we give teams 1 or 2 easy chances a game with silly or bad choices
