Well I don't buy into this crap that we've been awful for years. We've achieved pretty much the maximum it is possible to achieve save for the fa cup performances. We've also had performances like this every season and people have said the sky is falling in yet all the evidence suggests he will be able to turn it around.
One day he won't, because every team gets relegated, and then all of the end of the world predictions will have come true. People will gloss over the fact that they predicted the end of the world every year and were proved wrong. Neil will have been proved right with whatever tin pot punditry point he's picked to blame it on in the year we go down. Those of us who have pointed out that the team, Eddie, his coaches, etc. haven't been quite as dreadful as many would have you believe will finally have been proved wrong and all will be well.
In terms of what's wrong currently - he's never been able to recruit full backs and our poor performances always seem to be when we're playing square pegs in round holes in that position. It's madness to move Ake from his best position to one where he's average at best.
We've also been unlucky in that our front players are struggling for form. I'm sure Neil will point out that we've not got the coaching staff but they have all shown excellent form in the past in their current positions so it can't be that. They need to recover some form pronto though otherwise we are in trouble.
Agree with pretty much all of this, and more. . .
Apologies in advance of the following waffle if you see it that way but it still is to do with yesterday's game as I think can offer a microcosm or study of where Bournemouth are right now.
Summary for me of the game was disappointment but a few rays of hope if we can get things right. For the first 20 mins, many must have felt we were in with a chance of victory. That all seemed to change with their first goal. Psychology. I'll come back to that in a moment.
But first,
Full back pace is something definitely needed. Not just pace when running but pace of thought. It concerns me. Franno was quick although sometimes he struggled when up against players that could turn him because they were more nimble, but on a one on one, for pace he was pretty b good. He was also excellent getting forward and could play nice one-twos. Never thought I would say that! But, he was part of the team spirit and brought much to the game.
Cookie's groin may be another problem which needs addressing as is Ake playing out of his best defending position and Mepham caught in two minds (twice). I have to say though, that their first goal was erm....superb, if it wasn't offside, and it probably wasn't.
Forwards. Yes. Could do with them hitting form. Let's hope that the Fraser and Wilson partnership will build again. Apart from the first 20 or so minutes, we did look lacklustre up front. I really couldn't see a goal coming from anyone out there. Has Wilson lost pace? Surely there used to be more to his game? Not criticising him. He's an England forward and superb talent.
So it's easy to identify key areas, as many have done. Or key individuals ditto. No, overall in these and all other areas (I've bypassed midfield ) I get the feeling that TEAM SPIRIT needs to grow.
I think this is key to resolving all the above problems. It makes someone caught in two minds quicker of thought, and gives any player more pace. So many relatively new players haven't really gelled as a team, or with the team. It takes leadership on the field to make it happen too. Who was captain yesterday! One of the reasons Southgate was keen on Mings was because of his commanding presence (shouts a lot and orders and directs with finger pointing and arms waving). Dilly dallying in and around our penalty box when a tackle will suffice, or simply boot it out has to be the tactic.
People are saying they can't wait til Lewis C and the others come back. Well, that's fine, they are undoubted talents (and I would love to see them playing too) but we can also read comments on this forum when they were ineffectual or started well but drifted out of the game. It's ok having talent and the squad can thrive on it but above all, there has to be team spirit and leadership. ABOVE ALL ELSE. If the collective minds aren't on their game, then forget it. NO talent in the world is gonna make us play better.
How to remedy that big question of team spirit is up to the gaffer. How do you shape individuals into a team that fights, works, dies for each other?? He was clearly disappointed yesterday and I'm sure Eddie has it in him to sort it out. He is a golden boy still and has time for more life's experiences to shape him too. We all grow and learn from experience but more often than not need a mentor. So another question is, who is mentoring Eddie and Jason?
Hopefully it will come good again soon. We've had a reasonable start compared to the season before last and we've played possibly two of the top 4 already (Leicester and Man City).
