On the final day of the Premier League campaign, AFC Bournemouth had little to play for.
The Cherries could neither break into the top half of the table nor could they be relegated.
Due to the vast sums of money available in the top flight of English football, each position in the table is roughly worth around £2million, which ultimately meant that hypothetically at least, £10million was at stake in the end of season game at Burnley.
But despite the financial implications of the final day, Howe made a somewhat surprise team selection, dropping Lewis Cook in favour of 22-year-old midfielder Emerson Hyndman.
Emerson Hyndman had joined the Cherries in June 2016 but had only played in 6 cup games since his move to the south coast.
This season, his total minutes was just 106 minutes across three appearances, prior to the final day of the season where he made his Premier League debut.
Howe told the Daily Echo…
“From my perspective, I desperately wanted to reward him for everything he has done behind the scenes. He has trained well, improved and been dedicated to his profession.
“He has not once shown a bad attitude and has performed to a high level in training.
“His league debut wasn’t given to him, it was earned and that little taste will, hopefully, whet his appetite for the future.”
Your say…
Cherry_Bozzo wrote…
Hyndman for me did OK when he got involved but he did not look to get involved as much as I would have liked when we had the ball. He seemed to be very much reactive rather than proactive in that he dropped off waiting for a pass rather than going toward the ball and asking for it enough – something Surman is always doing. Hopefully, that was just a confidence thing with it being his first game at this level and will hopefully develop with time. – Join the conversation, click here.
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