Peter Neil Bell's Blog: Cherry Chimes, page 52

AFCB still have to find more of a goal threat

It was great to see Bournemouth keep a clean sheet and get a 0-1 win over Chelsea. It is quite rare for AFCB to have a central midfielder come up with a winner or a goal of any form. In Bournemouth's last five games have themselves only managed four goals with the Cherries scoring no goals against Liverpool and Crystal Palace. We may not be seeing things clearly with the win over Chelsea, because the Cherries are still not quite their potent sales at the business end of the field.
AFCB will hope for creating more goals against BurnleyI was encouraged that Ryan Fraser looked more like his old self at Chelsea. He may not have got into any goal scoring positions, but he did play well on the wing and made several good crosses. I am also pleased to think that Stanislas could well get a start this next weekend with Danjuma definitely out and perhaps Harry Wilson struggling. It is going to be hard for Howe to change a winning team, but in the goal department, I think Bournemouth are still light. Stanislas would add more creativity going forward and we may see at least one central midfielder who played at Chelsea moved to the bench to let Stanislas start.

AdvertisementWhile the goal Bournemouth scored at Chelsea was scored when Josh King was off the pitch, King was Bournemouth's best hope of getting a goal. It's important that he is okay to start and the way he walked up and celebrated the win last weekend indicates to me that he might be okay with some rest. Take King out of the picture though and Bournemouth are struggling to see many goals coming from the attack. It may be that AFCB need a set-piece and a defender to get them a goal.

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While Mepham has scored against Sheffield United, Diego Rico, Simon Francis and Jack Stacey are still waiting for a Premier league goal this season. Bournemouth have lost some of their scoring ability from the back with Aké, Steve Cook and Adam Smith all out. So while we have a had a good result, there is still a worry that AFCB are not as good as they should be in front of goal yet.
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Josh King was a mountain up front at Chelsea

It is not easy to come back into a Premier League game and be up to speed straight away. We saw that with Simon Francis, when he needed more game time before coming back against Wolves. Josh King had not been out as long, but there must still have been some element of apprehension as to how well Josh King would perform on his own up front at Chelsea.
Josh King just needs to add some goals to his performances now.The thing is Josh King wants to be the lone frontman. He goes straight into running battles with the thrill of the chase and often comes up the winner. If he players centrally, he has more ability to bring other players into the game and he doesn't give central defenders any rest.AdvertisementWith Callum Wilson out of the picture for a bit, the role of main striker is surely King's to lose. But Dominic Solanke has much to learn still to learn at this level and having not scored, it is King that has the best experience to play while Callum is out. While King limped off at Stamford Bridge, he was putting some weight on his ankle by the time he got to the dugout. I think he'll be patched up well enough to play this weekend.

Advertisement Eddie Had a Dream eBook version -available now!I'd like to see King get more than a few games at leading the line. It may be that Bournemouth do play better when Callum is not the main man and King is used to rattle defences more. There is also the prospect of Junior Stanislas playing again and he has great technical ability that usually works well with King and they could complement each other with perhaps Ryan Fraser making a front three.


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By changing the system slightly against Burnley, Bournemouth can perhaps catch out Sean Dyche. King will relish being in a battle and Burnley will give him one. I don't want to see King moved back out to the wing though to give Solanke another try at beating his duck.

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AFCB must remember those qualities that beat Chelsea

The words of Eddie Howe asking the players to remember how they got a result against Chelsea will not be forgotten. Bournemouth have been feeling rotten for weeks now and to get a result against a top six team should be a real boost to how the players feel about their game.
AFCB at Stamford Bridge.Playing Chelsea has certainly been good for Bournemouth. It might have been Howe's first win against Frank Lampard, but Chelsea are a strong side with some great young players that should have been too much for the Cherries. Nothing on paper pointed towards a Bournemouth victory. Still, the way the team went about their business in blocking Chelsea's attacks, it was the perfect way to make Chelsea doubt themselves and lose concentration enough for Bournemouth to score when they did get a chance.

Advertisement Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!What Bournemouth still need to do better is improve their shots on target count. With only Fraser's early shot and the goal troubling Kapa, Bournemouth created some good situations without being able to get a shot on target. It was more a case of stopping Chelsea, certainly in the first half. But when Bournemouth did counter-attack in the second half, there usually was one defender too many for King to get past. Some better passing in that final third would have opened the door sooner, but Eddie Howe will know the team needs work in that area.
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It was pleasing though to see a Bournemouth team that could defend. Having the extra man in midfield really helped block the width of the pitch and while Chelsea did get down their right wing a fair bit, the crosses were well enough dealt with by Mepham and Francis when they did come in.



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The side has a good way to play away from home now, but they'll need to be better in the final third at home against teams that sit in themselves at Dean Court.

One win doesn't mean AFCB are safe

While there has been deserved praise for the way AFCB Bournemouth played at Chelsea, we have to come back down to earth and consider that it is only three points. Safety is still a long way away, even if it is a bit closer. The chasing teams below Bournemouth are all starting to play better than they have in the very early part of the season, and the need to keep gaining points has to be stressed.
AFCB have to get the points they need as quickly as they can.Back-to-back wins have been hard to come by for the Cherries. Before the Chelsea game you also had to go back to 2nd November to the previous clean sheet. The winning habit has not been in fresh supply and Bournemouth had to work extremely hard for their win at Stamford Bridge.
Advertisement Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!What I am saying is that AFCB's troubles are not over. They have to play a team that is physically a bully on Saturday. Burnley will be on the back of a win themselves and while they have not done well away from home, they'll be looking to turn that around at Bournemouth.
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Bournemouth only managed a couple of shots on target at Chelsea as well. It was only by the thinnest of margins that the three points were gained. The players need to be switched on this week to remember how to defend set-pieces, because Burnley are the masters of the corner and have good height in their team.

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The league table is still very tight with a win catapulting Bournemouth back towards the top 10 and a defeat putting them right on top of the relegation places. Getting safe is not gong to be achieved until the Spring at best, and the Christmas programme is unrelenting. But the players will at least enjoy this week and will be in a good frame of mind before Saturday's game which is of course another must win home match.

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A 95 minute performance from AFCB has been a long time in coming

Dan Gosling admitted that the win at Chelsea only came because the team put in a 95 minute performance. They ran and closed down, won tackles and headers and made passes work for them. It was not a disjointed performance, but a total performance. It is something that has been missing, but it has to be the standard now for future games.
Bournemouth were hyped up to performa against Chelsea, where they had done well before.You probably have to go back to the game against Manchester United to see Bournemouth put in a game where they kept ticking over all the way through the game. The Cherries know that they can't afford to put in performances at the best level only once a month - it just won't be enough points.
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It may be that the game against Chelsea saw players that were fitter than any of the recent sides that Howe has been able to put out. Lewis Cook, Simon Francis and Dan Gosling all had a few matches to get back into the swing of things and weren't introduced cold. Eddie Howe also said early in the week that King was in line for a return, and he'd only say that if he was really confident that King was ready to step straight back in.

Advertisement Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!Having a fully fit team sounds like a must, but players do play with knocks and aren't always able to give their best physically. I thought Ryan Fraser ran much harder at Stamford Bridge than he has in recent weeks and he was one that has played himself back into form. The important thing now is that the players don't drop back on those standards and go on a good run this December to make up for what has gone before.

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What a player Ramsdale is

Keeping a clean sheet at AFC Bournemouth has been something of a rarity. But Aaron Ramsdale now has four clean sheets, after the one he earned at Stamford Bridge, and he really had to earn this latest one. Without the protection of Nathan Aké it was perhaps a surprise that Bournemouth managed not to concede at Chelsea, but Ramsdale was the outstanding player in the back five that made it happen.

Aaron just ups his game all the time.Ramsdale was perhaps a bit lucky that he had to make a save early on from Mason Mount when he spread himself like a star. Perhaps he felt then that things could go his way. He was certainly feeling that way when the heading competition that led to Emerson Palmieri trying to head in from four yards was saved by Ramsdale. It was a bit of a case of being like a hot potato but Ramsdale parried and juggled the ball well enough out of harms way when Chelsea looked certain to score in the second half.Advertisement Eddie Had a Dream
 eBook version -available now!After that, Ramsdale was surely pumped up and the snap shot that Mateo Kovacic had right at the end of the game. Ramsdale had to move sharply to his right to get down low and push the shot away, and it was perhaps the last real shot that Chelsea would have.

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Bournemouth have a keeper that is at the top of his game. If he is this good now, it is hard to imagine what a few seasons of Premier league football could do for him. Other teams will be looking at Ramsdale ,because he is consistently earning points for Bournemouth. Without Aaron it is hard to see how Bournemouth would have kept a clean sheet against Chelsea and the value of him will be rising steeply, if he can keep these performances coming.

Gosling always can come up with a goal or two

I've been asking for Dan Gosling to get more minutes for a couple of weeks now. I didn't expect Eddie Howe to play four central midfielders  and a winger though in one game at Chelsea, but picking his strongest side worked extremely well and Gosling was the man to get the decisive goal.
Dan Gosling pops up with important goals.It was the first goal that Gosling has scored since April 2019. But Gosling hasn't been present that much to play, and he has a knack of getting into the right scoring places which can't be said for many of Bournemouth's central midfielders. Gosling runs more metres than any other player ,and he makes the extra effort to get into scoring positions. He might have scored earlier in the second half, had King's pass been a little more in his path when he tried to receive a pull back in the box.

Advertisement Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!While Eddie Howe has been committed to play Billing and Lerma a lot this season to protect the back four, it is perhaps time that he allowed a player like Gosling to sit in front of Billing and Lerma. The balance seemed much better and with Lewis Cook also being involved, Bournemouth were very good at breaking up Chelsea attacks.

Bournemouth don't have to play with two strikers when Gosling is in the team. He can make that extra ground to get up in support with King. The goal Gosling did score was extremely well taken and was no fluke. He timed his run well and knew exactly where Kapa was, allowing the ball to bounce and come up to him before clipping it over his head.

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I can't say Gosling did everything right. There were some over hit passes and he did pick up a booking. But Gosling wanted the win and would do everything he could to get it. Eddie Howe can't ignore that energy and Gosling should be starting next week. 

Cherry Chimes to Camera: Chelsea 0 v 1 AFCB

Gosling's VAR goal lands Christmas three-point surprise

Match DescriptionChelsea 0 v 1 AFCB14 December 2019Attendance: 40,243What a day! Bournemouth's players celebrate a terrific win.This was a most unexpected win for the Cherries, but it was celebrated widely with Dan Gosling punching the air, after a long wait for VAR to rule a goal in Bournemouth's favour. AFCB relied on man of the match for me, Aaron Ramsdale to make some miraculous saves in both halves to win the game, while Josh King made a superb return before going off injured in the second half. This win will more than lift spirits at Bournemouth, it will give the players renewed confidence to challenge higher up the league. They've beaten one of the top six clubs and can build from here.
Bournemouth reignite their season at Stamford BridgeThere were four changes to the Bournemouth line up. In came Josh King, Lewis Cook, Dan Gosling and Jack Stacey. On the bench, there was also a returning Junior Stanislas.

There are more images on Match Day Gallery .

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Lewis Cook does some great work down right and Gosling almost gets on the end of it. Fraser then shoots from the left and forces Kepa to save at his near post.

Mepham gets a strong block on Willian's shot. Fraser puts a good cross in.

Jorginho into Mount and Ramsdale saves brilliantly with a star-shaped last ditch block.

Fraser goes down in the box but no penalty. Emerson gets in the box but has a weak shot. Mepham hardly touches Willian, but it's a free kick to Chelsea.

Cross from Azpilicueta and Abraham shoots wide at the near post. That was close on 16 minutes!

Billing tackles Willian well and the ref has blown for a free kick! Jorginho fouls King and Bournemouth release the Chelsea pressure.

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Chelsea have a corner on 24 minutes and after a heading scramble have another which Billing clears.

A ball right across Bournemouth's box and Mepham gets a foot in that sends it towards goal and Ramsdale saves. Mepham pleads it's not a back pass. Abraham was in close attendance.

Kante forces another corner off Rico. Mount and Emerson misunderstand each other and lose posession.

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Rico gets a good block in. Fraser wins a free kick just outside the box. Billing is in the thick of on the box and Gosling goes down in the Chelsea, but is off side.

Billing tackles back well. King battles away but the free kick goes against him. Willian crosses and Pulisic keeps it in play at the far post.

A shot from Chelsea and Stacey clears almost putting it into his own net!

Bournemouth have a corner. It's on the line, Fraser shoots but is blocked.

Corner again. Cleared. Two minutes of added time. Chelsea have a corner right on half time. Abraham heads over.
Chelsea's fans expected their manager to turn up the heat second half.Second half
Bournemouth are under pressure but King brings it away. King wins a free kick. Stacey has a shot blocked.

Billing should have a corner, but this ref is awful. Lewis Cook is carded for fouling Emerson.

Fraser sets king away but he cuts in and is blocked by the last man, Stacey was waiting in support.
Advertisement                          Fraser tackles back well. It's bouncing about in Chelsea's box. Bournemouth just need a clear shot.

Chelsea have a corner. Gosling gives a free kick right on the edge of the box. Willian hits the wall.

Mount takes advantage of a Bournemouth player going down, corner. Poor refereeing.

It's a scramble. Another Chelsea corner. Rico comes back on to cheers.

King bursts through and is just tackled corner at the final moment. Kante fouls Fraser.

Advertisement Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!Pulisic and Wilian are subbed. On come Kovacic and Callum Hudson-Odoi on 65 minutes.

Josh King bursts in the box it falls right across Goslings path, but he does not quite get to it. Lucky Chelsea, they were carved open by Bournemouth.

Free kick to Chelsea next to the box. It's over hit.

Abraham crosses but Francis clears. Ramsdale saves a point-blank header on the line from Emerson. Fantastic save!

18 minutes to hold on or Bournemouth. Gosling over hits a pass to King.

Just too long again for Fraser. King goes down. Solanke replaces King on 76 minutes. King is hobbling. Now he is putting weight on his ankle - hopefully he'll be okay by next weekend.



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Hudson-Odoi fouls Gosling. Gorginho is subbed and Batshuayi is on after 78 minutes.

Lerma defends well. Kovacic is booked for blocking Solanke. Gosling pulls back Kante and is booked.

Fraser breaks and Lewis Cook plays it to the near post and Solanke shoots but it's deflected for a corner.

Lerma heads the ball back into the box as Chelsea come out, Gosling has his back to goal and hooks the ball over the keeper and into the goal, but is given offside! Azpilicueta clears the ball. Hang on. There is a VAR check.

After a long delay its a goal! Bournemouth lead!

The noise is amazing. I love VAR! Solanke gets in the box but is blocked.

Diego wins a free kick. Gosling comes for a cross with lots if applause.

Five minutes of added time. Billing wins the header but Lewis Cook can't beat his man. Ramsdale catches again.

Rico blocks 29. corner 17 shoots and Ramsdale saves low to his right.

Bournemouth are clinging on.
What a win! A fantastic day and three more points.Summary
A remarkable day. Nobody gave Bournemouth much hope of getting anything from this game. They showed the heart and work rate to stifle Chelsea and while the referee was not giving corners he should have to Bournemouth, he was overruled by VAR on the goal and Bournemouth deserved their priceless win. Chelsea are Bournemouth's go to team when they are not playing well. Stamford Bridge is the hone away from home for AFCB.

AFCB line up AFCB Subs: Boruc, Surman, Simpson, Kilkenny, Stanislas, Solanke, Dobre 
AFCB Ratings: Ramsdale 10, Stacey 7, Francis 8, Mepham 6, Rico 7, Gosling 8, L Cook 7, Billing 7, Lerma 8, Fraser 8, King 8

Cherry Chimes MOM: Aaron Ramsdale

Ref Watch: Graham Scott: -4/10 Awful - worst ref of the season so far. Got goal kicks wrong when they should have been corners, booked Lewis Cook for nothing and tried to deny AFCb a perfectly good goal!
Chelsea
1 Arrizabalga Kepa, 2 Rudiger, 15 Zouma, 28 Azpilicueta, 5 Jorginho (Batshuayi 78), 7 Kante, 33 Emerson, 10 Willian (Hudson-Odoi 65), 19 Mount, 22 Pulisic (Kovacic 65),
9 Abraham

Chelsea Subs
13 Cabellero, 4 Christensen, 20 Hudson-Odoi, 23 Batshuayi, 11 Pedro, 24 James, 17 Kovacic

AFCB have to play with no fear at Stamford Bridge

Taking on Chelsea is not a fixture that Eddie Howe would be pleased to see come up in AFCB's current poor run, but Bournemouth have to meet it as a challenge and try and see if they can come away with a result. Of course, the starting 11 for Bournemouth is going to be difficult to pick, but all the squad players want to play Premier League football and we could find that some that were on the fringes can rise to the challenge.
No backing out, AFCB have to start playing their best football now.The most important thing we can hope for as fans is that Eddie Howe has restored some real belief in the players. The team will have Simon Francis and Jefferson Lerma for sure and these experienced heads will be needed to get other players fully concentrating on their jobs.

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The poor results of recent weeks have not seen a reaction yet. It's been one defeat after another. Bournemouth need to change things and as Howe suggests, forget about feeling sorry for themselves and start punching above their weight again. It will need a performance of very high quality to beat Chelsea or even to get a point, but Chelsea will also change some players from their midweek game, and they'll be under some pressure having lost to Everton and dropped some ground on the top three.

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The problem is Bournemouth may not have many of their big hitters. It underlines how a couple of player sales could seriously weaken the Cherries in January. Callum Wilson and Nathan Aké are the two biggest stars I'd suggest, but Josh King, Harry Wilson and Ryan Fraser need to show what they are about now. In recent games Bournemouth have been reactive. Danjuma and Lerma have been the players to do the most in my opinion to get Bournemouth trying to play on the front foot, but it needs more than a couple of players in the side to turnaround performances.
Possible AFCB line up AFCB Subs: Boruc, Simpson, Gosling, Surman, Kilkenny, Ibe, DanjumaA defeat could land AFCB in the bottom three. A surprise win or even a draw would have a massive impact on AFCB's outlook going into further matches in December. The away support is more than 2300, so the players will know we are right behind them and trying to give our best to get them a result. UTCIAD!

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A bad time to play Chelsea?

Bournemouth have had some great matches against Chelsea. But playing them now is perhaps not the best time to be taking on Frank Lampard's side. Having lost ground to Leicester City, Man City and Liverpool last week with an away defeat to Everton, Chelsea have to try and get back to winning ways and a patched up AFC Bournemouth will seem like a great way to do exactly that for the Blues.
Familiar territory, but can AFCB repeat previous wins at Stamford Bridge?No one is going to do Bournemouth any favours. The aim of the game is to win and Bournemouth will have to face a Chelsea that is fully-focused on looking for weaknesses in AFCB's set-up. Chelsea will be delighted that players like Nathan Aké and Callum Wilson are not available.
But Chelsea have their own problems. Their defence is starting to creek and was rather a shambles against a high-pressing Everton last weekend. They were beaten to the ball in just about every challenge and didn't seem up for the fight. If Dominic Calvert-Lewin can bully Christensen and Zouma, then it is the perfect example for Solanke to follow. Solanke has to make himself a nuisance and get between the two Chelsea centre-halves, winning the high balls and setting up attacks.

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We know Chelsea have great attacking players but Bournemouth will have to stop their supply by jumping on Kante whenever they can, and stopping Kovacic from spreading the play quickly. But if Abrahams, Mount and Pulisic do get on the ball and are heading for goal, I don't want to see AFCB's defenders simply back tracking and not putting in a challenge. Everton set the tone for their win against Chelsea, by basically strangling them and not giving them any room to play. Bournemouth similarly have to get at Chelsea or they'll get picked off if they drop off.



Advertisement Eddie Had a Dream is on sale now!Everton played themselves into form and that's what AFCB also need to do to get something from the Chelsea game.

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In other news, Gavin Kilkenny signs new AFCB deal.