AFC Bournemouth returned to Dean Court on Wednesday night to host Ipswich Town in the Premier League. Focus changed from the astounding FA Cup run, which saw the Cherries reach the Quarter-Finals for only the third time in the club’s history. Though it was a rollercoaster, there were some excellent victories, such as the 5-1 win over West Bromwich Albion. Before a Wembley dream was shattered at home to Manchester City on Sunday.
The Cherries team did not play well against Ipswich, contributing to their 2-1 defeat. The side looked tired, both physically and mentally, a shadow of themselves in comparison to how they looked earlier in the season along their 12-game unbeaten run (in all competitions).
AFC Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola told Sky Sports…
“Now everything is costing us a lot. We need a lot of chances to score goals,”
“Probably the main problem today is we cannot concede two goals, with the way the game went.
“We had a lot of the ball in the opposition half, controlling the game, but we cannot give them the chance.
“They had two shots on target and scored two goals, and it made that very difficult. We are not having the decision-making in the last third, in the opposition box, we are needing a lot to score.
“When you are in a bad turn of results like we are now, everything goes against you.
“Even the penalty is a little bit outside the box, the deflections go for them, the clearances are off the line. But you have to persist.
Man of the Match against Ipswich
Evanilson
Evanilson
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Semenyo
Semenyo
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Cook
Cook
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Christie
Christie
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Adams
Adams
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Huijsen
Huijsen
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Dango
Dango
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Scott
Scott
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Someone else
Someone else
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AFCB_Liam
How have the wheels fallen off so spectacularly? 5 losses, 1 draw and 1 win (Southampton so hardly counts) in our last 7 PL games.
Yes, the shot count is high, but a lot of speculative long rangers. We just seem so bereft of ideas and creative spark.
Are we trying to stop anyone from buying our players in the summer??
Europe is over. No way we’ll overtake that many quality teams, even if it’s only a 5/6 point gap. The best we can hope for is top 10.
Iraola's take after the defeat at Vitality Stadium.
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) April 2, 2025
Green_Cherry
Teams have figured out how to play us. Yet again, we fail to beat a low block. No creativity up front. We rely on catching teams out high up the pitch, but when teams play long balls, that tactic goes out the window. I worry about us next season. If we sell the likes of Huijsen, Kerkez and Semenyo, we will have to spend big to replace them as I’m not convinced our “B team” will step up. I think next season could be a roller coaster, not necessarily for good reasons.
AFCBmattjamr
When we go a goal down to any side that play slightly more conservative football we are completely done. Absolutely no idea how to break down a low block and just hit and hope crosses and longs balls. It’s so predictable and dire to watch and it’s getting worse and more desperate each week.
Don’t think making players chop and change positions 3 times a game helps either.
Far too many players in that team have had their heads turned and have started coasting. Absolutely gutting to watch what could have been a generational season for the club fizzle out into another 12th place finish.
NWCherries98
I said it a few games ago, we’ve had the same problems all season. Poor finishing and a lack of quality in the final third. Having 20+ shots every game isn’t a sign of a good attack unless you’re scoring 3+ goals a game. We are probably the most wasteful side in the league when it comes to xG. This proves that the tactics, mostly, aren’t the problem. It’s the personnel and the application of the tactics, for a variety of reasons. When everything clicks, we still look like one of the better teams in this league. It hasn’t clicked for a while, though.
It’s not really that surprising, either. We had 12 fit players for a solid 1-2 months, and they played out of their skin for that period. The players aren’t robots, they simply look very leggy now. If I were to summarise the issues I see atm:
– A lack of consistent quality on the ball in the final third. Poor crossing, poor penalty area movement, positioning and anticipation. Terrible decision-making.
– Not enough depth for the style we want to play. Irrespective of the injuries, we don’t have a natural Kluivert, Tavernier, or Christie replacement. When at least two of these three go missing, we look quite poor and seem to struggle with AI’s tactics. Scott isn’t a bad player, but he’s no Christie or Kluivert. Brooks is no Tavernier. It’s small margins, but I think it matters.
– Stamina. We’ve gone from looking like the fittest team in the league to the most sluggish. Obviously this is mostly due to the constant injuries.
– Our defending this last month or so has fallen off a cliff from the high standards that had been set. Poor finishing plus poor defending equals poor results.
– Tactics? When all three of these are issues, our playing style of direct long passes and hard running starts to have a strong whiff of Dyche. It’s not really that bad, but it starts to lose its charm when you’re seeing such rudimentary passing and movement for 50 minutes at a time.
Have the players had their heads turned, or are they just out of form? I think it’s the latter, personally, with the potential exception of Kerkez tonight, who had a bit of a stinker and has had plenty of rest. – To join the conversation, please click here.