AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe told Sky Sports…
“The way we started the game, you wouldn’t know we’re in the position we are in. We passed the ball very well, showed good composure, scored a really good goal, could have scored more. The early signs of the game were very good and generally, I thought the performance overall was pretty good. The two goals we conceded were out of keeping with the overall performance. The second goal was a really poor one.”
We know that you all had difficult journeys with the weather to get here.
So a huge heartfelt thank you for your support at Bramall Lane ❤️️ pic.twitter.com/xjztfgYDyL
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) February 9, 2020
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8WtaKBnuoD/?igshid=10skzufcsy9rb
Written by Red_till_im_ded
Good for 35 minutes but wasted opportunities to create something worthwhile when near their box.
Ryan Fraser the worst culprit for this, looking for a cute pass instead of having a shot. Some nice passing, spreading the ball from right to left and some good ball retention, however, with the amount of ball Sheffield United look to get into the box we always seemed to look a bit shaky.
Lots of panicky hurried clearances which seemed to bounce around our box. Just a lack of composure. Still not sure why Steve Cook is on the bench, Simon Francis didn’t fill me confidence although Nathan Ake was superb.
Their equaliser was coming. We couldn’t get the ball away and hold possession. Lots of hoofs upfield just to relieve pressure. Problem was it just kept coming back. Some of Aaron Ramsdale’s decisions were a bit rash but I guess the weather didn’t help with balls whipped into the box. Scrappy goal to concede, the first one, a shame we couldn’t have held out for a couple more minutes. 3 minutes was a lot to add on but let’s be honest some of our players did spend a fair amount of time rolling around on the floor.
Second half wasn’t an improvement although a good shot from Fraser brought a decent save from their keeper. Their second goal came literally seconds after bringing Junior Stanislas on. Maybe we switched off for a second. I thought we were worthy of a draw but Sheffield United are a well-drilled outfit. Very fit, organised, players from lower leagues without bags of skill but who as team fight for everything and each other. Kind of like us a few years ago.
I felt our performance lacked the intensity and fight of our two previous victories. We now have to rely on other teams dropping points which isn’t good when destiny is out of your own hands. Overall, once we took the lead I thought we’d go on and win, alas, not to be. We move on to the next one.
Your say…
davygravy wrote…
Over the full ninety, the fair result would have been a draw. Simple as that. We had as many chances as they did after all. Haven’t seen much mention here of that brilliant save by Henderson from Fraser at 1-1, I believe that goes in and we win the game. Fine lines.
Despite BT Commentator Owen Hargreaves wetting himself, Sheffield United didn’t batter us at all. They actually had some spells of pressure and then the game evened off again. The game was lost because we switched off at the end.
I see Phiip Billing and Dan Gosling covered more ground than anyone else on the pitch, that at least shows now that we are working harder, we are trying, we are fighting for each other, a whole lot more than a few weeks ago.
I’m also not so annoyed with the supposed ‘rolling around’. Every time it was a foul. And as the away team, against a determined set of players and a noisy crowd, I don’t think it was daft to slow the game down. Especially when we were leading. – Join the conversation, click here.
