Roll on Ipswich — Notes for Bournemouth Saturday, 28th Dec 2013 11:00 by HarryFromBath HarryfromBath assesses the mood in the opposition camp ahead of Sunday's match by delving into their forums. "Twenty-two games gone and we are halfway to a points total that should see us stay in this division", "We are about as mid-table as mid-table can get. I'll take that", "Just look back five years. Would you have believed we would be where we are today?" "That was bloody brilliant. We passed Yeovil off the pitch." Bournemouth will go into Sunday's game having secured their first back-to-back wins this season, a 2-1 away victory against an "appallingly bad" Sheffield Wednesday and 3-0 at home to Yeovil on Boxing Day. "Wednesday fans were commenting on how hard we worked and how well the players knew where each other were, as opposed to their team, who were playing like strangers", "This season was never going to be easy. We are good enough to stay up." Eddie Howe"We play counter-attacking football at its best." Most Cherries are very pleased with the stylish, hard-working passing game Eddie Howe has developed using a 4-5-1 formation this season. "Eddie is learning, but he will end up as a top manager." "There is a growing sense of self-belief throughout the whole team. It's a delight to see such prescience in our running and passing, and the players are beginning to understand each other", "Our passing and interchanging are exceptional and a privilege to watch." "I wouldn't want anyone else in charge of Bournemouth. I am enjoying the ride and don't think we'll be relegated", "Our work rate is so impressive", "I'm enjoying pretty much every game. We play football that is a joy to watch most of the time." Erratic Home Form"Give your heads a shake and support the lads. This lot are being hit by a juggernaut week in, week out. The gap between the Championship and League One is immense. Errors which we could get away with last year will definitely be punished at this level." The Cherries were beaten 2-0 by Birmingham in their previous home fixture. The Blues pounced on two elementary defensive mistakes and sat back, thereby blunting any counterattacking threat. "Visiting teams appear to have sussed out our plays and can nullify them by sitting back." We're Not Physical Enough"We have too many quick moving clever ball players available, but where is the dominant tall midfielder attacking the box or the aggressive centre forward getting in front of the centre back?" "A physical midfielder and an old fashioned number nine striker would make us a top ten outfit." "We risk having too much style and not enough substance", "It's time to win more individual battles", "This team will all play their socks off but it is all bark and no bite", "Our diminutive attacking players are physically incapable of disrupting and ruffling defenders." Defence"How many of the goals against us have been decent goals as opposed to us handing them to the opposition on a plate?", "A shoddy mistake costs us again." Most Cherries would be happy with their back four if they could only cut the "suicidal defensive errors" out of their play.
"Lee Camp looks a good keeper. He commands his box and is good with his distribution, whether short to defenders or long to the wings when the chance arises." The 29-year-old glovesman is on loan from West Brom, and most Cherries want the move made permanent in January. The former Forest man and Northern Ireland international,"commands his box well and claims corners with more confidence and reliability than I can remember from any other Bournemouth keeper". "Simon Francis is a weak link at right-back. He has all the physical attributes needed for the job, but seldom gets close enough to the winger. Some of his short passing from the back is suicidal." The 28-year-old former Charlton man "gets flustered and plays the wrong ball more and more". "Francis is great at bombing up and down but is too wasteful with his passes", "I have lost count of the number of times I have seen Francis galloping down the wing to cross the ball to nobody from the goal-line, when a clever through ball to a breaking forward would have been more effective." "Charlie Daniels is lively and makes brilliant runs." The 27-year-old former Orient left-back "looks comfortable defensively and coming forward", "Daniels was back to his barnstorming arrogant best against Yeovil." Former Brighton centre-back "Tommy Elphick improves with each game, but I am uncertain if he is for this level." His error led to one of the Birmingham goals, but "he was unstoppable in the penalty area against Pogrebnyak (against Reading), heading everything away." "Elliott Ward has more than proved to be an excellent signing, with his distribution and dominance in the air." The 28-year-old ex-Norwich player joined this summer and is seen as the least error-prone of their three centre-back options, although one fan noted that "he can be easily turned". "No centre-half should be trying to beat three players in his own half at any time in the game, let alone in the second minute." Former Brighton centre-back Steve Cook was guilty of "a poor error" against Birmingham, allowing Andrew Shinnie to score unmarked after leaving his post. Republic of Ireland international Ian Harte hasn't featured in recent games, having joined from Reading this summer. "Players have been complimentary about Harte's impact off the field. His wealth of experience brings a great deal of information to our players." Central Midfield"The extra man in midfield does give us a lot more possession and makes us less likely to concede", "We can play on through balls into the channels. The problem is doing it at home when the opposition sit deep, and this is when we revert to looping crosses to no-one at the back post." "The problem is that none of our midfielders will shoot. Ritchie is the only player who consistently has a go. It is really pathetic to watch sometimes. For the love of God, would someone just bloody take a shot", "It baffles me why nearly every time it opens up they pass instead."
"Andrew Surman quietly keeps the ball moving and is always available." The 27-year-old former Southampton player is on loan from the Budgies this year. "I thought it was Surman's role to get forward. He is too sluggish to get to the edge of the box", "He can struggle to get in the game." "Shaun MacDonald is being asked to play a midfield role which he is not comfortable with. He has never previously had to break up opposition moves. He makes rash tackles and gets booked because he's not that type of player. His strength is going forward and being creative." "I think Eddie took Arter off and brought MacDonald on to give the midfield that will be starting together against Ipswich some game time." Harry Arter, who had a trial with Town in 2009, will miss Sunday's game having picked up his fifth yellow card of the season against the Glovers. Eunan O'Kane"Santa has regenerated our League One midfielder into a highly skilled box-to-box player", "O'Kane's a little diamond, at the heart of most of our moves today (against Yeovil)", "He played his bloody socks off and scored a belting goal."
"O'Kane has been a delight to watch recently", "He continues to maestro things from his position 50 yards out", "We have found O'Kane's best position as the sitting midfield player. None of the others have been able to pull that off." The 23-year-old former Torquay player is in a great vein of form. "O'Kane is really finding his feet at this level and found his niche in the team. He is taking a leading role in maintaining the tempo of the team in the centre", "O'Kane throws himself in where it hurts and is a real terrier." It is worth noting that Bournemouth struggled when they played with a two-man central midfield against Brighton. "O'Kane was non-existent. We ran out of steam in the second half. Rohan Ince completely dominated our invisible central midfield." Wide Midfield"It would be worth giving the wingers a try on their correct foot. I understand the wisdom of them cutting in, but if they can't, we might as well have them pick out someone at speed on their good foot and not their swinger." Eddie Howe has deliberately employed this tactic to enable his wide players to link up with his creative midfielders. However, this limits the Cherries' effectiveness down the flanks, especially when they don't play with a recognised target man to feed off crosses. "We don't need a target man. We just need to stop going wide. If we play through the middle and actually tried to shoot then we might get somewhere. If we are going to keep crossing it, then we need a physical striker." On Bournemouth's left flank, 19-year-old 'Rocket' Ryan Fraser joined from Aberdeen this summer. "Fraser bombs up and down and is all energy", "Fraser is an exciting young talent. All he needs to do is keep his footing better. He needs to focus on terrifying defenders and actually going for goal." "I thought he had a great game against Yeovil. His pace and determination is fantastic. He's a very exciting player watch when he takes a defender on. The Yeovil right-back looked shattered just before Ryan went off. He's a very exciting prospect at just over 19 years old." "Marc Pugh not starting means far fewer pointless looping crosses." The 26-year-old former Hereford winger "is poor crossing on his weaker foot and often makes poor choices", "His end product isn't good enough, and I can't remember the last time we did anything with a corner." "Pugh and Ritchie were left (against Birmingham) crossing on their weaker foot with predictable consequences. When they did get the crosses right, nobody had come to the near post and nobody gambles attacking it." "Perhaps we are being a bit harsh on Pugh bearing in mind the number of crosses he puts in. Who is he supposed to be crossing to? That's the story of our season for me", "Opponents' defenders just sit too deep in the box to cut out our crosses or block them." Matt Ritchie"I'm falling in love with Ritchie all over again." The former Swindon winger has scored five goals in six games for the Cherries since returning from injury on the right flank, including two against the Glovers on Boxing Day. "His energy, skill and goals have reinvigorated the team." "Getting Ritchie back has given the whole team a boost in confidence", "Ritchie was the spark for everything we did today. His use of the ball is wonderful and the way he clings on to it is exemplary. He is a real voice verbally dictating play and standing up to cynical players." Strikers Tokelo Rantie "We need a target man at home. Someone like Rickie Lambert, who is good in the air, finds the net with his head and feet and brings other forwards into play", "We don't need a target man. We need our strikers to get themselves into the box and stop faffing around on the edge of the area." Cherries are unsure how to make best use of the 23-year-old South Africa international, who signed from Malmo this summer. "TK doesn't appear to be on the same wavelength as the midfield. He was making runs they weren't expecting and wasn't being given the ball." "TK needs to work on his decision making, teamwork and first touch. Would you put your house on him scoring in a one-on-one?" "He needs to learn not to mark his defender. He can be very static, watching instead of moving", "He hasn't adjusted to the physical nature of the game over here", "Sulky Brett Pitman slows down all our attacks." The 25-year-old former Bristol City striker "seems a bit slow", "His goals from open play have disappeared this season." Most of his appearances have been from the bench in recent games. Lewis Grabban"I thought Grabban wasn't going to cut it in the Championship, but he's our most improved player by a country mile. He was absolutely non-stop today", "He works tirelessly and never lets the defenders relax for a moment."
"Grabban stretched and harried the opposition all game long (against the Owls)." Former Millwall and Rotherham striker Lewis Grabban has started the last four games. "He puts an impressive shift and looks the real deal as a lone striker." "He is superb on his own up front", "I doubt Grabban can play the lone striking role all through our Christmas games as it will be knackering", "He can become exposed in this role and the ball ends up coming back at us too easily." "At home we need the midfield to break forward and join Grabban. They don't and it means that we never have anyone in the box. Teams won't allow you the space to play on the break at home as they sit too deep. A midfielder must push up and join him or we should go back to two up front." Cherries' Views on ITFC and the Game"Ipswich won 3-0 at Donny today, with McGoldrick scoring two. Looking at the statistics, they are not shy of having a crack on goal and a good percentage are on target. It should be a cracking game", "It should be a good game. Two points from this and Brighton (on New Year's Day) would be good." Several Cherries nervously picked up on Doncaster boss Paul Dickov's post-match comments about us being a "big, physical team": "They have a big, physical team? We've got to get Fraser in their penalty box, ahem, staying on his feet of course." "We can go into the Ipswich game with the feeling that it won't be a disaster if we lose. They have hit excellent form lately, so I will see anything we get from that game as a bonus", "This game against Ipswich will be a lot tougher than Yeovil or Sheffield Wedenesday." WebsitesThe busiest Bournemouth message board is Up The Cherries.
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Lee Camp
Andrew Surman
