Without Akes awareness and other skills we could have finished near WBA. If you couple that with the fact that our reputation as an attacking force has now made other managers plan more carefully against us and punish us more when we give the ball away cheaply. In a strange way we are not 'little Bournemouth' any more with that surprise element we brought with us in 2015. The main difference to Burnley is their defensive quality. If we can build around L.Cook and Ake we can progress but it has to be more ruthless now. Fraser, Smith and Mousset are positives. Ibe started to shine in the middle of the season but also can be a passenger and liability so remains an enigmatic asset. Eddies got plenty to work on in the summer.
Felt sorry for Charlie last night, battling away 100%, still plenty of skill too, but he just looked shattered physically and emotionally in that and the Liverpool game! I think Callum should try and develop some other edge to his game, instead of getting his body entwined with defenders every time he gets in the box - the refs are not buying it - potentially he could be a Jimmy Greaves!! For me, our player of the season is Smith!