AFC Bournemouth kicked off against Middlesbrough on Friday afternoon already knowing that Nottingham Forest had already lost against Luton Town.
The Cherries would hope to better their result to increase the gap over Forest, one of the chasing pack that hope to threaten the Cherries bid for automatic promotion.
AFC Bournemouth head coach Scott Parker made a few changes for this game, with at least one forced upon him due to the injury to Jordan Zemura.
Parker opted to hand on-loan Manchester United full-back, Ethan Laird, his debut for this game, which meant first-choice right-back Adam Smith switching flanks.
Sirike Demele and Jaidon Anthony were overlooked down the left wing in favour of Todd Cantwell.
After the match, Parker told Sky Sports…
“I think that’s a big point, that’s how I see it. Of course we wanted all three points but Boro are a well-organised team and we knew they would be hard to play against. We had a couple of little half chances and Jefferson hit the bar and did not follow the ball in. Those are the fine margins we are working with but every game we play is another one ticked off. I think that’s a point gained.
“I was pleased with the second half and saw a group of men trying to win the game. They limited us to very few opportunities and I always felt the game would be tight. We are in a fantastic place with six games to go and we would not want it any other way. I understand the anxiousness and the desperation of everyone wanting to get this season done and dusted and for us to get promoted. We need to stay focused and very calm. We will be alright.”
Man of the match against Boro
Kelly
L. Cook
Lerma
Laird
Phillips
Someone else
Honours even 🤝
Scott Parker's verdict on today's draw 👇
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) April 15, 2022
Written by billythekid
Well despite the poor game I have just come back from, after seeing some of the other results that was an important point.
Obviously 3 would have been better, but we didn’t finish without a point like Forest, Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield United this afternoon.
In Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield United’s case, losing to the teams third and fourth from bottom.
"I'm just glad that I was out on the pitch"@EthanLaird said that "persistence" was the word as he made his first start for #afcb
Listen to his reaction, speaking to @kristemple pic.twitter.com/ibijBoUiXI
— BBC Radio Solent Sport (@solentsport) April 15, 2022
Your say…
Waz afcb wrote…
Player Ratings
Travers- 7 made a vital intervention in the first half to deflect a cut back away from the path of an onrushing Boro player. Also made a fairly decent (albeit routine) save late on in the half. Didn’t have much to do but did what he had to.
Smith- 6 certainly not MOTM like the sponsors suggested but put in a decent enough shift on his unnatural side. Struggled a bit to get involved from an attacking perspective (not helped by playing behind a very uncomfortable Cantwell) but defended admirably against a tricky opponent in Jones.
Phillips- 7.5 MOTM had one very shaky moment in which he was very fortunate not to give away a penalty, but that aside didn’t put a foot wrong defensively. Read the game pretty well today. Would have scored higher if not for a slightly wayward distribution.
Kelly- 6 defended well when tested and his recovery speed allowed him to snuff out dangerous situations on numerous occasions. However he had one of those days where his distribution was all over the shop, most passes felt like they were either misplaced, over hit or under hit.
Laird- 7 thought he looked pretty decent after a shaky first few minutes. Showed a great engine to overlap on numerous occasions and was unlucky not to get an assist with a lovely cutback in the first half. Also looked pretty solid from a defensive perspective mostly. The first real showing was not too bad at all.
Cook- 6 thought he struggled to really impose himself on the game. Showed some nice neat touches as always but never felt like he had control of the midfield. Looked more comfortable when we went 4-4-2 late on and he had a proper midfield partner.
Lerma- 6 still not so sure about him in this advanced midfield role, he does a job there and every once in a while looks very good but does it really get the best out of him? Not sure why we don’t just play him deeper alongside Cook and let him play his natural game. Should have scored with his header that hit the bar.
Billing- 5 flattered to deceive yet again. Every once in a while he will really use his physical attributes and drive forward with the ball and you will think ‘wow this guys a player.’ However he just doesn’t do this often enough. Very much a luxury player again today. Not really getting involved very often and losing out while competing for second balls. Honestly think it is time to give the guy a rest, hasn’t been on it for a while now and we can’t afford to carry anyone at the moment.
Christie- 5 pretty anonymous today, didn’t get involved much at all. Worked hard as always but needs to provide more of an impact on the ball.
Cantwell- 5 no idea how Parker thought that playing him wide left could work, looked very uncomfortable out on the flank. You could tell he was just itching to drift infield at every opportunity.
Solanke- 6 it’s a hard one to score really because although he was largely anonymous this is due to a systemic failure, not an individual one on his part. What can we expect him to do when he’s having to fight off three centre-halves without another Bournemouth player anywhere near him. You really are asking an awful lot of him to make a mark on the game while being so isolated. He could get on the ball a bit more when he had Lowe as support.
Subs: won’t mark but will offer thoughts
Lowe- bright cameo. Got into a couple of good goal scoring positions and linked play well while on the pitch.
Anthony- put a couple of decent balls into the box. Certainly looked more of a threat with him there than Cantwell.
Dembele- a few nice touches but not given long enough.
Final Verdict:
Going to approach this purely from a tactical perspective. IMO our starting 4-3-3 is not reliable enough when tasked with breaking down teams who play a back 5 and like to sit in. I feel like we instantly looked a better side today later on in the game when we switched to a more traditional 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 and went back to basics. Having two centre forwards on the pitch allowed us to build a bit of sustained pressure later on and we even created one or two openings. Would really like to see us drop Billing and start with a more conventional 4-4-2 next game, going back to basics could just be our best chance. – Join the conversation, click here.
Matt Stevenson wrote…
I suspect the majority managed to watch the game one way or the other, so won’t need me to tell them how insipid and dull the game was. There was three big chances (over 1 in 8) two for us, and one(?) to Boro.
The first was Lerma’s header in the 57th minute that rattled the bar (2 in 5). Twenty minutes later Lowe also had an unmarked header, that may have been slightly too high for him (1 in 3), Boro’s sole big chance was in the 82nd minute when Crooks headed over (44% – which looks much too high given the speed and positioning of the ball he received).
The silver lining is that results largely went our way. 538’s prediction for AFCB promotion has now increased to 92% – Join the conversation, click here.
Let's take a look at those #SkyBetChampionship standings following the conclusion of the Good Friday schedule! 👀#EFL pic.twitter.com/3mZ7Hu227E
— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) April 16, 2022
