Bournemouth are represented in the latest Premier League team of the week that has been selected by BBC pundit Garth Crooks.
Actually Garth is now down as a ‘Football Analyst’ these days, a posh term for a pundit then!
The performance by Steve Cook in the one nil victory over Newcastle United at the weekend at St James’ Park was enough to earn them a place in the side alongside the other, in the opinion of the former Spurs striker anyway, most impressive performers in the topflight over the latest weekend.
I think we’ll already know ourselves, and not just based on the latest performance, why Crooks, we’ll also not argue with it, selected Cook as part of his team but explaining his choice he told the BBC.
‘Bournemouth’s game against Newcastle would have been the best 0-0 draw of the season had Steve Cook not risen like a tower to nod home a fantastic winner for the Cherries. On reflection, they probably deserved it. I thought Cook’s header was absolutely brilliant, matched only by the players’ celebrations and the kisses blown to the Bournemouth supporters who had travelled all the way to the North East. Cook didn’t out-jump one Newcastle defender but two, and the elation that followed was clearly immense. Keeping a clean sheet is one thing but having the ability to go up the other end and affect the play so emphatically was something else entirely. Scoring goals has always been the most difficult thing to do on a football pitch, and for Cook to do it in such dramatic circumstances must have been very painful for Newcastle.’
It’s always good to see the club represented in this way, and well played to Cook for his recognition, but the most important thing about the weekend was of course the win.
Full Team:
Nick Pope (Burnley), Steve Cook (Bournemouth), Shane Duffy (Brighton), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Rajiv van La Parra (Huddersfield Town), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Alvaro Morata (Chelsea), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City).
