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Bournemouth Fan View: Cherries have been too naive against big sides
It’s very true that my side, AFC Bournemouth, will not have their season defined by games against teams like Manchester City.
You can still tell a lot about where you’re at via such so-called “free throw” matches against the elite sides, though. And right now, we’re not in a good place. All because we’ve suddenly become incredibly naive.
Last season we lost 4-0 against Pep Guardiola’s side at the Etihad. That time we were undone by a superb Kevin De Bruyne performance, however. This season we were undone by, well, not very much at all. And that’s what was a concern. City barely had to get out of second gear.
Ch-ch-changes
We looked a solid enough outfit in the first half, and even threatened a few times. You couldn’t call our opportunities half chances, maybe quarter chances. Against such a terrifying side such as Manchester City that’s not bad though.
But what truly annoyed me was the way we collapsed late on and let our goal difference take another battering.
It was done willingly too, as we changed to playing two up top after we went 2-0 down after seventy minutes. I appreciate it was an attempt to be brave and get something from the game. But sometimes you have to know when you’re beaten.
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AS IT HAPPENED: Manchester City vs AFC Bournemouth
Naïve and stupid
We were barely threatening in the second half and nothing changed when we bought on Benik Afobe and Lys Mousset. It was almost as if were saying to Manchester City: “Here you go, rack up a couple more.”
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Now my criticism of this change may sound harsh. Perhaps you’re thinking it’s an easy thing to say in hindsight. Yet I said it at the time, and the game unraveled from us as predicted.
So instead of a relatively creditable 2-0 defeat to the best club side in the world, we’ve ended up with a 4-0 shellacking.
Howe does he do it
This naive tactical approach doesn’t just apply to this weekend, either. Howe set us up in an incredibly foolish way against Liverpool last week as well. We were outnumbered in midfield against Jürgen Klopp’s side, and ended up getting another 4-0 thumping.
So, from having a relatively healthy minus-five goal difference a week ago, we’re now on minus-13. So we’ve gone from having the best goal difference by miles amongst the sides near the bottom to, well, not having it. By miles.
Considering goal difference could be vital at the end of the season, leaving us to be willingly picked off by Manchester City was incredibly stupid.
Our confidence after these two huge league defeats could be critical heading into a run of games which we simply must gain points from. Arguably far more damaging – and avoidable – than the current injury crisis we’re going through.
