AFC Bournemouth kicked off their pre-season campaign against League One side Sheffield Wednesday last week.
The game took place during the Cherries pre-season training camp in Portugal, with goals from Lewis Cook and Dominic Solanke enough to secure a 2-1 victory.
The result of course during friendlies is all but immaterial, with the game itself more about preparation and fitness for the players as they build up towards the new season.
Thanks for the game, @swfc π€
Best of luck for the upcoming season π pic.twitter.com/BPUgfzF5y7
— AFC Bournemouth π (@afcbournemouth) July 15, 2022
Two separate sides played out each half.
During the first half the side saw Mark Travers in goal, a defence of Lloyd Kelly, Chris Mepham and Adam Smith. Width offered from Jack Stacey and Jordan Zemura. The midfield included Lewis Cook and Joe Rothwell and attacking roles were taken by Jamal Lowe, Sirike Dembele and Kieffer Moore.
The second half saw trialist goalkeeper Jonas Lossl between the sticks, in defence Ryan Fredericks, James Hill and Ben Greenwood came in. The midfield saw Jefferson Lerma, Ben Pearson and Phillip Billing with Emiliano Marcondes, Jaidon Anthony, Ryan Christie and Dominic Solanke in attack.
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The best of the action from today β¬οΈ pic.twitter.com/tzYRZOqTgf
— AFC Bournemouth π (@afcbournemouth) July 15, 2022
AFC Bournemouth head coach Scott Parker told afcb.co.uk…
“I think it was a good workout for the boys after a tough few days here in Portugal, We’ve been working the players hard, so we probably saw a few tired legs in the game which is to be expected.
“Overall, I think some of the things we’ve been working on came out in the game and I was pleased. We won the game, so that’s a good habit to get into. I was happy with that.
“I think the most important thing at the moment is to get minutes in the legs and now nearly every player has had 45 minutes.
“That’s now two 45 minutes with another training game last week. Then we have another game coming up on Tuesday where we’ll increase those minutes for certain players and step on into the middle of pre-season.”
The Cherries second game in Portugal comes this (Tuesday) evening against Portuguese side Braga.
Your say…
KingKieffer wrote…
Thought it was very interesting that we lined up with a 3-4-1-2/3-4-2-1 in both halves. Interesting because we currently donβt really have the correct personnel to do this (Adam Smith played RCB in the first half and Lerma played CB in the second half.) If weβre going out of our way to line up like this during pre-season before weβve even recruited enough defenders then it indicates to me a clear change in direction in the way that Parker wants to approach next season.
I am a fan of this, I think weβve got players who are naturally suited to this way of playing. Zemuraβs main strength is his ability to drive with the ball and playing as a LWB will naturally suit him more than an out and out left back, playing Kelly as a LCB will also allow him to better utilise his attacking qualities by getting higher up the pitch. It would also give us the ability to get both Solanke and Moore on the pitch at the same time which could be key in ensuring that Dom does not become too isolated.
Just an observation and it might mean nothing as itβs only a friendly but I donβt see another reason why we would go out of our way to line up like this in both halves. Anyway, itβs very quiet right now so figured it was worth bringing up as a discussion point. – Join the conversation, click here.
