Have we improved?

Playing Fraser as rb isnt an improvement, it should be possible to coach brad smith to fill in as part of his development.
All the experienced midfielders started the season below their best.
Defoe hasnt been the influence and impact people hoped for.

442 with the wide players making it narrow needs the full backs getting forward most of the time.

King and Wilson not quite the goal machine of previous seasons.
Stanislas not able to stay fit for any length of time.
Adam Smith a bigger miss in every game hes not fit to play.

Mousset looks a talent, Ibe looks like a pub player/international in the making often in the same game.

Squeaky bum time till the next win is in the bag.

The performances of the pgmol officials isnt improving.
 
Neil Dawson said:
Oh and Alex Pritchard.... I have faith Eddie could do for him what he has done for other players. Francis was rejected by Charlton and Daniels trotting out for Orient and Eddie turned them into established Premier League players.

I think he would work well with Pritchards raw talent.

Don’t you?
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No, I don't rate him but that's just my view. It's my pet hate when we play a team and someone says why didn't we sign him, because he has a great game! For the record following Wednesday night I'll take Pogba, Lukaku and that Rashford fella :)

I didn't compare WBA and Stoke against us, I was referring to their fans and what they've watched over a decade or so and this is possibly what we may be facing if we stay up another few years.
Burnley and Watford was I referring to what they've achieved or not this year alone.

Anyway, I just think the high plateau that we've been used to has been lowered, it probably has been our golden generation and we may well have to lower our expectations a little bit.

I know your thoughts Neil are that it's because Eddie is no longer playing to our squads strengths and I don't entirely disagree with that. However, I don't think it's as easy as flicking on a switch.

Here's hoping for a Mousset, King, Wilson front 3 from the start at St. Marys!
 
We took King away from his best position and ‘lost’ Arter. We too frequently didn’t play Smith or Steve Cook. Lewis Cook...you can’t tell me he wouldn’t have been better than Surman at the start of this season DJ I’m sorry. He wasn’t being rested, he didn’t even make the bench early doors...are you saying he was that shattered he couldn’t play ten minutes? And why were cup games ok for him?

I’ve seen some interesting examples of contorting facts so as not to be seen to ever criticise but that’s quite spectacular.

That’s five premier league level players effected. We have too many championship level players to do without any of those five. The result has been a disjointed season of poor performances and tactics rescued by an incredible spirit of throwing the kitchen sink at average teams in the last ten minutes. Teams we should have played much better against.

Defoe is interesting because again we should have known that less mobile goalscorers don’t work in our style of play. Murray and Afobe being living proof. Our strikers have always taken the opposition down the other end and allowed us to push up and look compact.
 
Neil Dawson said:
All fair points.

Year one I thought we played beyond our ability and potential.
Year two I thought we played to our potential.
This year I don’t think we have played to our potential.

There are many factors in this. A lot of which you have argued yourself particularly when we were shoehorning Franno in the side at the expense of Smith or Cook.

We beg to differ!
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That maybe the crux of our differing views!
Year two - I thought was our Leicester moment, 9th was way above most people's expectations and was a surprise to many in and out of football.
 
Neil Dawson said:
We need to get back to what we do best under Eddie. WMC I agree but would have King, Mousset and Fraser! All about opinions!
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I think back to that Chelsea win, he had Ibe, Stan and Wilson playing in a tiny triangle and Chelsea couldn't cope with it. Ibe ever since has played more wide. That's my only gripe with EH because he hasn't really tried it again. That night was the best I've seen us all season.
 
West Moors Cherry said:
That maybe the crux of our differing views!
Year two - I thought was our Leicester moment, 9th was way above most people's expectations and was a surprise to many in and out of football.
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Again though. Depends whether you are looking at potential of club or of team/individuals and I’m looking at the latter. We extended the potential of our club when we got promoted to the championship and have been extending it ever since.

In terms of the team that first season when the signings failed and we relied on our championship players they all played beyond their abilities and once across the 40 point line they collapsed as a result.

The second season, to me, with Kings main goal scoring help and the arrival of Ake and Wilshere’s class we didn’t look like we were busting a gut to win any game. We hammered some of the bottom teams and looked much more comfortable against the top teams. Nobody really looked like they were having to play at 120% just to justify playing.

This season we have added again but often have had long spells in games or in months where we just haven’t played to our potential. Often we have come on here and said players (Ibe, Daniels, Franno, Defoe, King, Surman, Arter, Stanislas, Steve Cook, Wilson) have not played to the heights they are capable of. Only Gosling, Mousset and Lewis Cook have played better than last season consistently. Ake is fantastic but he was last year too,,,he is just a fantastic player.

That was the point. Our club is well over achieving its potential but the players haven’t played to their individual bests as frequently as previous seasons. I’m genuinely surprised some people can’t see that.
 
..I think that Adam Smith and Steve Cook have improved from last season...Lewis Cook,Ake and Begovic have added some better quality to the team. The future looks okay for Ryan Fraser,Lys Mousset and Jack Simpson IMO..we have an aging nucleus that will need to be praised and moved on (Boruc/Francis/Daniels and Pugh)....not sure about Harry Arter, as no one seems to know what has gone on with him?....the squad players like Surman, Gosling and Brad Smith could still be useful next season...Ibe is an enigma, Stanislas is injury prone! The likes of Hyndman and Mahoney I can't help thinking that Howe thinks that they are not ready yet and not sure if we will ever see them as team regulars? Wilson, King and Defoe will still be part of our future next season one would imagine. The expected departures of Grabban and Afobe will hopefully bring in some capital to re-invest...
 
Just for those complaining about Eddie playing players "out of position" (like Fraser at RB) - the advantage of this is that tactical changes can be (and usually are) made mid-game without having to use a substitution.
 
West Moors Cherry said:
I think back to that Chelsea win, he had Ibe, Stan and Wilson playing in a tiny triangle and Chelsea couldn't cope with it. Ibe ever since has played more wide. That's my only gripe with EH because he hasn't really tried it again. That night was the best I've seen us all season.
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Totally agree with this.

Ibe needs that freedom and looked so dangerous in the middle. King is never a number 10 and like most I don't get why Eh is persistant with it.
 
Eddie persists with King as a 10 because he is too stubborn to realise 2 strikers doesn’t really work anymore. In his defence King’s purple patch last season started when King played the no. 10 role behind Afobé. Trouble is teams have wised up so all those late runs into the box he could do last year unmarked are being tracked by defenders this year.
 
...King just looks to have lost his sparkle, maybe the injuries have made him adjust his normal bustling and chasing down style a bit?
We can't forget that King and Wilson have both had their share of injuries and this must have some effect on how they are at present? Hopefully next season we will see the real deals when they are what I call fully rested and match fit.
 
I think we have improved from last season in pretty much every regard, personally. King is unlikely to hit those heights again (hopefully I'm wrong), and if you take even 5 or 6 of his goals away, we'd probably have been 15th or lower last season.

We have a great core emerging of Begovic, Ake and the two Cooks, and we also have important players like Stanislas and Smith missing at the moment.

The season has just felt a bit sleepy, a bit less eventful maybe. That's the nature of being a mid table premier league club, unfortunately. I'm sure next season will be more "interesting" when we hopefully have a bit of a refresh in the squad, with a bit more healthy competition.
 
Where I think we have improved is our absolute maximum. Chelsea away was on a completely different level, but we were also excellent for the 2nd 45 mins at Newcastle and last 30 mins home to Arsenal. The fact I’m struggling to think of any more examples is part of the problem though...

Another area we’ve improved is grinding out points with poor performances. Ultimately that is part of football and often what makes the difference between good and great times. Here though I could give lots of examples which again is telling

So obviously the challenge next season is to improve the skewness of our performance level distribution even if our absolute top level stays the same.
 
In my opinion Ibe looks better playing in front of midfield. He looks a bit lost when playing wide, almost as if he can't make up his mind what he should be doing next and his final ball lets him down. Theo Walcott went through a spell like that. Let the attacking midfield run through onto a decent ball from him with the lone striker pulling the opposing defence away. (That's probably why I'm sat here and not managing a team!)
 
Must admit this season I have felt a bit ‘meh’ as it draws to an end.

However I am still very proud that AFCB are a Premier League team and have to pinch myself sometimes when looking at the League Table.

We’ve been so spoilt with success under Sir Eddie that it’s a bit weird being a mid-table team even if it is in the top flight.

Even on Tuesday I was thinking we could get a result. Call that blind faith but I still think when we click we are a very good side.

Chelsea away showed how good we can be which is why it can be frustrating when we don’t play to our best all the time.

This season the defence has definitely improved but we still leak goals. Could be the quality of the opposition sometimes but we also seem to suffer from the sucker punch goals a bit too often.

Apart from the lack of goals up front, for me it’s still midfield that is the weak point. Lewis Cook is of course outstanding but if we’re going to play two in the centre I feel we need a real battling partner for Cook.

Shelvey and Diame at Newcastle are a good comparison I guess.

Some major thinking for Eddie this summer as it’s obvious some of the old guard do need replacing.
 
I know I missed going to the Spurs and West Brom games.

Luckily Spurs was shown on Sky.

Even though I was told the West Brom game was not worth watching, on Sky in the evening it happened to be the game of the day, I recorded it and watched the next day.

So when you can’t get to the game you miss it, but when you can go it seems some wish they hadn’t gone.

It is ok watching the game on Sky live and seeing it from different angles on replays etc. But you just can’t beat watching your side live at Dean Court.
 
We've done well. OK last season was special but I agree the bottom 3 were rubbish as proven with their Championship positions and I think with the exception of WBA it's a tougher league this season BUT this summer we have to make changes.

As with Pugh - Charlie and Franno are finding it tough at this level despite Frannos improved performances following Huddersfield and Charlie's wonderstrike. Sticking with them as first choice would be a bad move. As mentioned above, Defoe is great for nostalgia of 2001/02 and will grab goals when played into him but he isn't getting younger and sadly he's lost elements of his game.

Callum is decent, can't see why people fault him. However King isn't the right man next to him. Lys will be a great player for us but he still needs to develop that little further.

I would snap up Rondon. Powerful and a target man. He can hold the ball up for Callum which is something lacking with King. Don't get me wrong King is young, a good player but shouldn't be first choice.

At the back, Cookie should be the new captain with Ake and Smithy on the flanks. What about Liam Moore? Proven Premier League experience and expected to depart Reading whatever happens. Still need another though.

Midfield wise Surman is too lightweight, nice guy but at the end of the road and not a regular but I do rate Gosling. Something about him. I would snap up Nyom... but also consider if we may be able to get Wilshere back.

Think the team would be more solid with those additions. This is the summer we have to improve and staying loyal I think would backfire at the end of next season.

Eddie will get it right. Know he will get the right players in to keep us where we are or improve a few places. Not sure how we improve on last season... we need to pinch ourselves, realise we are Bournemouth and stay grounded. Unless a miracle, a massive miracle we aren't going to get top 6. I'm happy we've survived again
 
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