8 Season Preview 2019-20 FourFourTwoAftera decadeofforwardmomentum,there are
fears that Eddie Howe’s side have hit the limit of
their potential. Bournemouth have slid since their
second top-tier season, 2016-17, took them to 9th.
Finishing 14th in the Premier League is a remarkable
achievement when they faced obliteration as recently
as 2009, but last year felt like a missed opportunity.
After a strong start, Bournemouth flagged badly. At
the end of October, they weren’t just 6th – they had
the most points of any Premier League team to ever
be 6th at that stage. But then they folded in the face
of tougher opposition, losing 10 of their next 12 gamesARE THE CHERRIES nOW
GOInG BACKWARDS?
PREMIER LEAGUE
2019-20
and suffering an alarming tumble down the table. It’s
a familiar story: spells of brilliance and spells of frailty.
Fans boast about playing from the back, but there
has been a shift towards counter-attacking, aided by
the acquisition of composed Welshman David Brooks.
Howe’s team scored more goals on the break than any
other side in 2018-19, with Ryan Fraser and Callum
Wilson forming a fruitful partnership – indeed, they
were statistically the most successful top-flight pairing
since Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton, Blackburn’s SAS.
However, the Cherries also conceded the joint-most
goals on the counter, and often looked more likely to
concede from an attacking set-piece than score from
one. Capable of beating anyone on their day, theyalso collapse defensively far too often, something that
no new signing has yet been able to fix. Only Fulham
and Huddersfield let in more goals in 2018-19, and
it’s nothing new: in their four Premier League seasons,
Bournemouth have shipped 67, 67, 61 and 70.
Attempts to evolve the first-team squad, which still
features a number of veterans from Bournemouth’s
League One days, have been hit and miss, while their
focus in 2019 of trusting in a more youthful defence
plucked from the Football League – Lloyd Kelly (20)
and Jack Stacey (23) now joining 21-year-old January
signing Chris Mepham – is admirable but risky.
Some fear that Bournemouth’s time in the Premier
League may end with nothing tangible to show for it.
Supporters have been frustrated by Howe’s rotation
policy in the cup competitions, and by continued
delays to a planned expansion of the stadium, which
remains the smallest in the division by some distance.
As Howe faces the ongoing challenge of successfully
remodelling his squad, 2019-20 could prove crucial in
determining whether Bournemouth’s story ends up as
a plotline or a mere footnote in Premier League history.LAST SEASON
PREMIER LEAGUE 14th
FA CUP Third Round
LEAGUE CUP Quarter-Finals
TOP SCORER
Callum Wilson (15)