Michael Zia
Trialist
Sometimes the bravest act can be to admit that you made an error. The experiment hasn’t worked, and it won’t.
Watching Luton town today was quite a surreal experience, despite the fact that they our one of our direct competitors, and that our prospects this season hinge heavily on them (along with Burnley and Sheffield United) being even worse than we are, I found at least a part of myself willing them to win. I think the reason for this is that what they are and the way they are going about things heavily resonates with me in terms of what it means, and has meant, to be a Bournemouth fan over these many years.
Are they as talented as we are? No. Do they have the resources that we do? No. They are the underdog and they are under no illusions about that. They don’t cross that white line and attempt to be anything that they are not, they do not compromise their identity in any way, shape or form. They know that they are the underdog and not only do they not let it hold them back, they thrive on it. They shed blood, sweat and tears to make every single game they play in competitive, and to make things as uncomfortable for their opponents as humanly possible. They know they can’t go toe to toe with their opponents, so they don’t attempt to.
Those are values that I felt defined us last season, and made me feel proud to be a Bournemouth supporter. We couldn’t go toe to toe most weeks, but we put absolutely everything into maximising our survival chances and left everything out on the pitch each week in the process. It felt like we were fighting every single week and even if we had fallen short, we could still hold our heads up high at the end of it.
This season feels entirely different, we have massively lost sight of what we are and what we need to do to achieve our aim of survival. It is all very well striving for more and wanting to be better but if you do look to go down that route then you have to make bloody sure that absolutely every facet of the club is aligned in that direction. Brighton did not simply appoint an expansive coach and then all of a sudden magically start to generate results, they developed a philosophy and an identity over many years and had an industry leading recruitment model to back that identity up.
From the moment the final whistle blew at the end of last season we have gotten so much wrong-
•We signed too young, we put too much emphasis on future profit to the point that it is having a heavily damaging impact on our ability to be successful in the present. Kerkez has immense potential and he will make us a huge amount of money in the future, but he isn’t ready to be a starter at this level yet. Not only did we pass up on the opportunity to sign a player for less money (Vina) who we knew could perform at this level already, we made the decision to go into a PL season with our only out and out left back being a 19 year old with no experience at this level. We saw our most experienced (and arguably most important) centre half from last season (Stephens) depart and did not replace him, instead putting our complete trust in another young player with next to no experience at this level. Again, Zabarnyi has immense potential and may well make us a very pretty penny in the future, but right now his naivety and lack of experience is really hurting us on a weekly basis. If there is one area of the pitch you really cannot afford to be naive in then it is the defence and we came to the conclusion that we could be successful with one of the youngest and most inexperienced defences that this league has ever seen, the first big error.
•We appointed a manager known for his high intensity pressing style knowing that we were going to be losing our only midfielder capable of operating at the intensity required. This made replacing Lerma our most important signing of the Summer, and we made the decision to replace him with a midfielder with a known history of hamstring issues, who had not even recovered from the hamstring injury at that point that had kept him out for the majority of last season. We essentially pinned all of our hopes on a player who even by his own admission, did not feel quite right after his previous operation, and who averages around twenty appearances a season over the course of his career. The most important area of the team in a high intensity pressing side is the midfield, and this is what we decided to go with. Now he will likely miss most (if not all) of the season, we are left with Scott, Cook (a player who has suffered two ACL injuries in the past,) Billing (a very talented luxury player) and Rothwell (a very talented player but about as far from being the high energy combative midfielder that we need to play this way as humanly possible.) This is what our recruitment team have deemed sufficient to play perhaps the most intense style of football imaginable, is it any wonder we look a total shambles most weeks? This was our second very major error.
I feel sorry for Iraola in many ways, we have employed him knowing that he would play a very specific style of football and we have done an utterly horrendous job of equipping him with the tools necessary to play that way. But unfortunately we can’t go back in time now, we have got what we have got and we need to focus on getting the best out of the players that we have at our disposal. We haven’t got the experience or know how in the back line by which we can be left constantly exposed and not be punished. As talented as they are, if we keep allowing Kerkez and Zabarnyi to become exposed as they have been and to not protect them adequately by preventing them from becoming isolated in one v one duels, then their nativity will continue to cost us, and that isn’t their fault. Similarly, we haven’t got the profile of midfielder of the legs in the middle of the park whereby we can ever expect to press effectively without leaving massive gaps to exploit in the middle of the park. A philosophy is all well and good, but you actually need the tools to implement it effectively.
Does Iraola deserve to be sacked? Probably not, but I just don’t see what other choice we have if we want to salvage this season. We know the way he likes to play and we can’t expect him to suddenly change over night, yet at the same time we haven’t equipped him with the tools required to play HIS way. We have talent for sure, and this situation can still be salvaged, but the players we have are not all of a sudden just going to develop the attributes necessary to implement this philosophy successfully. We’ve messed up, it’s unfortunate but it is what it is. We need to accept this and cut ties with Iraola and appoint a coach that will play a way that aims to get the best out of what we’ve got, rather than force a style on them that they don’t have the attributes to pull off. It’s our only chance now imo.
Sorry for long OP.
Watching Luton town today was quite a surreal experience, despite the fact that they our one of our direct competitors, and that our prospects this season hinge heavily on them (along with Burnley and Sheffield United) being even worse than we are, I found at least a part of myself willing them to win. I think the reason for this is that what they are and the way they are going about things heavily resonates with me in terms of what it means, and has meant, to be a Bournemouth fan over these many years.
Are they as talented as we are? No. Do they have the resources that we do? No. They are the underdog and they are under no illusions about that. They don’t cross that white line and attempt to be anything that they are not, they do not compromise their identity in any way, shape or form. They know that they are the underdog and not only do they not let it hold them back, they thrive on it. They shed blood, sweat and tears to make every single game they play in competitive, and to make things as uncomfortable for their opponents as humanly possible. They know they can’t go toe to toe with their opponents, so they don’t attempt to.
Those are values that I felt defined us last season, and made me feel proud to be a Bournemouth supporter. We couldn’t go toe to toe most weeks, but we put absolutely everything into maximising our survival chances and left everything out on the pitch each week in the process. It felt like we were fighting every single week and even if we had fallen short, we could still hold our heads up high at the end of it.
This season feels entirely different, we have massively lost sight of what we are and what we need to do to achieve our aim of survival. It is all very well striving for more and wanting to be better but if you do look to go down that route then you have to make bloody sure that absolutely every facet of the club is aligned in that direction. Brighton did not simply appoint an expansive coach and then all of a sudden magically start to generate results, they developed a philosophy and an identity over many years and had an industry leading recruitment model to back that identity up.
From the moment the final whistle blew at the end of last season we have gotten so much wrong-
•We signed too young, we put too much emphasis on future profit to the point that it is having a heavily damaging impact on our ability to be successful in the present. Kerkez has immense potential and he will make us a huge amount of money in the future, but he isn’t ready to be a starter at this level yet. Not only did we pass up on the opportunity to sign a player for less money (Vina) who we knew could perform at this level already, we made the decision to go into a PL season with our only out and out left back being a 19 year old with no experience at this level. We saw our most experienced (and arguably most important) centre half from last season (Stephens) depart and did not replace him, instead putting our complete trust in another young player with next to no experience at this level. Again, Zabarnyi has immense potential and may well make us a very pretty penny in the future, but right now his naivety and lack of experience is really hurting us on a weekly basis. If there is one area of the pitch you really cannot afford to be naive in then it is the defence and we came to the conclusion that we could be successful with one of the youngest and most inexperienced defences that this league has ever seen, the first big error.
•We appointed a manager known for his high intensity pressing style knowing that we were going to be losing our only midfielder capable of operating at the intensity required. This made replacing Lerma our most important signing of the Summer, and we made the decision to replace him with a midfielder with a known history of hamstring issues, who had not even recovered from the hamstring injury at that point that had kept him out for the majority of last season. We essentially pinned all of our hopes on a player who even by his own admission, did not feel quite right after his previous operation, and who averages around twenty appearances a season over the course of his career. The most important area of the team in a high intensity pressing side is the midfield, and this is what we decided to go with. Now he will likely miss most (if not all) of the season, we are left with Scott, Cook (a player who has suffered two ACL injuries in the past,) Billing (a very talented luxury player) and Rothwell (a very talented player but about as far from being the high energy combative midfielder that we need to play this way as humanly possible.) This is what our recruitment team have deemed sufficient to play perhaps the most intense style of football imaginable, is it any wonder we look a total shambles most weeks? This was our second very major error.
I feel sorry for Iraola in many ways, we have employed him knowing that he would play a very specific style of football and we have done an utterly horrendous job of equipping him with the tools necessary to play that way. But unfortunately we can’t go back in time now, we have got what we have got and we need to focus on getting the best out of the players that we have at our disposal. We haven’t got the experience or know how in the back line by which we can be left constantly exposed and not be punished. As talented as they are, if we keep allowing Kerkez and Zabarnyi to become exposed as they have been and to not protect them adequately by preventing them from becoming isolated in one v one duels, then their nativity will continue to cost us, and that isn’t their fault. Similarly, we haven’t got the profile of midfielder of the legs in the middle of the park whereby we can ever expect to press effectively without leaving massive gaps to exploit in the middle of the park. A philosophy is all well and good, but you actually need the tools to implement it effectively.
Does Iraola deserve to be sacked? Probably not, but I just don’t see what other choice we have if we want to salvage this season. We know the way he likes to play and we can’t expect him to suddenly change over night, yet at the same time we haven’t equipped him with the tools required to play HIS way. We have talent for sure, and this situation can still be salvaged, but the players we have are not all of a sudden just going to develop the attributes necessary to implement this philosophy successfully. We’ve messed up, it’s unfortunate but it is what it is. We need to accept this and cut ties with Iraola and appoint a coach that will play a way that aims to get the best out of what we’ve got, rather than force a style on them that they don’t have the attributes to pull off. It’s our only chance now imo.
Sorry for long OP.
