Written by Kirsikka
The only change to the team that looked solid enough to get a point against Chelsea last time out was the return of Adams from suspension, with Scott dropping to the bench. An obvious tactical change to bring more defensive bite to the midfield. Understandable considering it was an away game to one of the supposed top sides.
Man of the Match against Manchester United?
Tavernier
Tavernier
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Semenyo
Semenyo
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Evanilson
Evanilson
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Senesi
Senesi
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Jimenez
Jimenez
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Someone else
Someone else
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On a personal level, today was a day of reflection for me. Turning the corner on half a century is a life milestone that has you wondering about the choices you’ve made.
In my youth, birthdays were a debauched affair, and whilst I have zero regrets about the fun I had those years, this was a more sedate evening. A cinema screening of Home Alone with the family, followed by an AFCB PL away match against a Sky Six club.
At least I thought it was going to be sedate until we got to that second half…
The first half, though, was a thing of pain. Starting with that felt by Adams in the third minute when he took a knock to his knee and had to go off injured to be replaced by Scott. Not ideal!
Jiminez and Semenyo were swapping sides through the half. We’ve seen it before with our natural wingers, but I thought it was interesting to note we carried on with it when playing a right back there. I suppose teams will have prepped to stop Semenyo and so we wanted to put him up against different players to see where he could make the most impact.
Outside of that, though, I’d say it was the Alamo, but that indicates some kind of heroic defence when it was more Man Utd being wasteful when creating, then not taking chance after chance.
Sure, there were still individual moments of defensive brilliance, like one last-ditch Smith block, but as a unit, we were torn apart.
They’d switched things up from their usual approach and we simply didn’t know how to deal with it. Meanwhile, there were vast tracts of space in the middle of the pitch for them to break into, with Scott unable to fill in the role we’d planned for Adams and Tavs, understandably, sometimes out of position.
Near constant pressure from the kick off finally told when Jiminez was sold a dummy and let his winger cut inside and fire over an inswinging cross. The striker’s near post missed the ball whilst Senesi dodged to avoid an own goal. With it set to go straight in, Petrovic managed to adjust and get a hand on the ball, only to send it into the path of another Man Utd player who could head into an empty net.
That didn’t signal much change as they kept their boot on our neck.
It didn’t help that it felt like we were stuck in no man’s land when we got possession. Whenever we tried to pass it out, they were on us in a flash, forcing mistakes with an aggressive and effective high press that we couldn’t deal with. If we tried to go long, they scooped up almost everything.
It took 28 minutes for us to even ask them a question and Tavs probably should have scored after a brilliant cross from Kluivert, but his header went straight at the keeper.
Still, it was a sign of life. Even if it was surrounded on both sides by them, spurning chance after chance.
Then, from nothing, we were level. This time, it was careless play from them in their half, which allowed Kluivert to put his body in the way to block their player, meaning the ball went to Smith. He played it forward to Semenyo into the space created by Kluivert’s move and he dribbled into the area and shot low across the goal and in.
There was still a lot to do, but if there was any justice in these things, Kluivert would get an assist for that. He won’t.
An equaliser that wasn’t quite at the undeserved level of West Ham scoring against us last month, but it wasn’t far short.
Still, with half-time looming, it gave us a chance to reset at the break on equal terms. Only…
In injury time, we gave away a silly free kick in an attacking position. In it came and Casemeiro met it completely unmarked. Fortunately, it was deflected wide. A lucky escape. Hopefully, we learned from that.
No? No.
The resulting corner was sent to the back post, where Casemeiro was again free to head it at goal. Diakite, who was marking him, had allowed himself to be blocked. Petrovic absolutely should have saved it, but his waffle-handed attempt could only deflect it in.
There are times when Petrovic gives me Begovic vibes. Done very well elsewhere, reserve keeper at Chelsea, comes to AFCB and suddenly looks to be completely shot for confidence at PL level, letting in saves he was making with his eyes closed at other clubs.
I don’t know what the answer is. It’s probably what AI is doing in showing unwavering loyalty and belief that we’ll see his quality in time. Let’s hope so.
2-1 down at half time and, to be honest, it probably should have been about 3-0 to them. We’ve seen matches where we’ve destroyed other teams without scoring the chances, only to let points slip, so I wasn’t completely without hope. Especially with AI in the dugout.
I don’t expect us to be better than these teams. Let’s be clear on that. However, AI changed the narrative in that we would go to these teams with a zest and belief and try to take the game to them. Hustle, battle and make them uncomfortable in a way they aren’t used to.
That was all missing in that half and it meant space was being left for their technically superior players to exploit.
Off we went again with tactical tweaks aplenty across our setup and, as starts to a half go, I’ll take tonight’s every time.
A simple move straight through the middle saw Tavs pick out an intelligent Evanilson run through the middle. He took a touch then fired it into the corner. Brilliant to see him back on it!
Tavs was suddenly running the show. A fantastic bustling run saw him break through the centre and start to line up a shot with clear air in front of him when he was taken out for a blatant professional yellow card. If you know what I mean.
Not to be deterred, he stepped up to take the set piece himself and curled it into the corner. Delirium! From nowhere, we were ahead.
Given how his run won the free kick in the first place, I feel like he should get a goal and an assist for that one.
That brought out the stat of the night from the commentary team: AFCB are the first side to score three or more goals in three consecutive top-flight games at Old Trafford.
This led into our best spell of the game, where our belief had reemerged from the winter darkness as we were suddenly pressing them in their half and winning it back, proper AI style.
Wary of his limited options, there was no 60-minute sub window from AI and the momentum started to shift again as we became a little more concerned with holding onto what we had rather than hurting them.
Understandable in many ways, but given how we were causing them problems, it would have been ideal to keep going. That said, it could simply have been down to energy levels and the lack of viable changes.
It wouldn’t be an away match against a Sky Six team without some blatantly soft decisions given their way. Adam Smith was apoplectic when he was penalised for a handball when it was fired at him from close range. What made it worse is that you couldn’t have picked a better spot in which to line up a shot.
So, yeah, the inevitable happened with no chance for Petrovic. No chance for any keeper on the planet, in fact.
Smith ended up getting booked as he carried on complaining at the ref even after they’d scored. He can get after refs sometimes, but I’m struggling to recall him being so enraged in his long AFCB career.
A minute later and an AFCB defensive mess saw them take the lead. And there was nothing pretty about it at all from our viewpoint.
Senesi (I think?) dived in near the halfway line and failed to win it, leaving them to breakaway with space and numbers on their side. Still, they fluffed the cross as it came to Truffert. Only he screwed up his clearance attempt and it landed in the path of Cunha in the middle of the goal and eight yards out with loads of time. Only one outcome from there.
Send up the Kroupi signal. It’s a rescue job with us 4-3 down at this stage, if you’ve lost track.
The precocious French finisher didn’t disappoint. Jiminez made another of his endless breaks running at his man and played it to Kroupi, who took a great touch and shot home.
That’s two brilliant striker goals from our two main leading men. Hopefully, a sign of good times ahead.
If I’m honest, I was wondering why AI hadn’t taken Jiminez off for Brooks or Adli, given we needed to create more. There’s the answer. I should wonder less and admire more.
DB did come on in injury time to be part of a crazy finish to the game. It was Rocky vs Apollo Creed stuff, with the two sides trading punches with chance after chance, but nobody able to nail that final knockout. Brooks could have won it twice but was denied by the keeper on both occasions.
4-4 the final score. And breathe.
I’d have taken a point if offered it had been offered before the night started. I’d have bitten your hand off for a point at half-time. Actually, I’d have bitten my hand off for it then. At full time, I was relieved we didn’t throw it away, delighted with the fight shown by the team and amazed that we could have won it.
That’s what football is about. Crazy matches you’ll remember for years to come. I know I’ll remember what I did on this day for sure.
Selected Player Watch
—– Evanilson —–
He’s done a lot right in recent weeks, apart from scoring. Today, he broke the hoodoo with a lovely striker’s goal. A springboard to more from him? I hope so.
—– Tavernier —–
Asked to do a job and did it admirably. He doesn’t always look natural there, with some mistakes that you can forgive from someone filling in. On the flipside, his attacking flair came to the fore to make goals two and three, as well as scoring the latter. Probably our best player on the night.
—– Jiminez —–
Another player is being asked to fill in to shore things up. Skinned all ends up for the first goal and doesn’t quite have that winger skill on the ball, but his desire and direct running make defenders uncomfortable. Ultimately, it created the (final) equaliser. To be clear, it was an excellent performance, but I still see this as a stopgap position for him.
—– Petrovic —–
I don’t want to get on his back too much. Let’s be honest, though, that second goal was a howler. Players need time and there’s no way he’s anything but first choice for the rest of December. However, his confidence looks shot with a complete absence of the early-season dominating of his penalty area. For what it’s worth, my Chelsea supporting friend rated him higher than Kepa and was hoping he’d be their number one this season.
—– Scott —–
If last week was the argument for him to be a 6, today was the other side. He was completely bypassed as they overran us in midfield again and again. To be fair, it was in a system setup for a different player. I still think he’s an 8.
—– Smith —–
Of the defenders out there, he looked the most solid. All of them put in a shift, but they were all prone to errors as well as good moments. I think he was generally the most reliable and was also extremely harshly done by on the free kick from which they scored.
AI and Tactics Watch
First half we were had on toast.
Amorin has been pure stubbornness about sticking to his system since he joined Man Utd and so it’s typical of the kind of luck we’ve had this season that not only was the game where he, out of nowhere, decided to change it, but it clicked instantly for them as they tore through us time and again.
Then add to that the loss of Adams after two minutes, who should have been the mainstay of our midfield battling.
AI had his hands tied about what it could do with the personnel available. That insane refereeing performance against Sunderland has been biting us game after game, as the unavailability of Cook, combined with Adams and Christie’s injuries have meant we’ve had one midfielder available to play two roles.
That’s the context we need to remember here. That and the whole insane differences in budget. That part should go without saying, though.
Yes, that first half show was pretty disastrous, but look what happened when he had a chance to talk to them about how Man Utd were set up and change our approach. In the second half, we were a completely different proposition.
There have been times over the past month when I feel we’ve lost our mojo. We haven’t looked like an AI team. So, last time out, he wanted solidity and we produced that. This time out, when that was off the table, he wanted us to go for it and we did that.
If we can start combining the two, we’re going to be a force again.
Truth be told, they should have been out of sight at the break and our chance to goal ratio was relatively ruthless. In a way, we did to them what we’ve had done to us so many times in matches where we couldn’t finish countless chances.
It turned into a game of two halves, where AI once again showed his worth in turning around what looked to be a hopeless performance. If only we’d had more midfield options…
Meanwhile, his managerial record against Man Utd is now two wins and three draws in five matches. Gosh.
Still, what a second half that was to watch and enjoy. Which leads us into two matches where we can say we’ve played ourselves back into a semblance of form. Let’s now get the wins.
It being a special birthday, Mrs K asked if there was anything I wanted that she could organise. Turns out Vanessa Paradis was interested when she saw my wife’s photo, but ghosted us as soon as she saw mine, so that didn’t work out. For my second choice, I asked for an AFCB performance to remember. She gave me a resigned shake of her head. But here we are, and once again she’s delivered.
Some people might try to claim it was the tactical switches from the manager or individual players stepping up that won that point. I think we all know the truth, though. What a woman.
Your say…
Neil Dawson…
You travel all this way and you hope for entertainment and effort.
That was brilliant tonight on all counts. Utd fans in the hotel bar full of praise for us.
I’ve spent years watching us lose at the likes of Rotherham and Hartlepool. I know it annoys people when I say this, but you can’t change your past!
How anyone can be unhappy when we are busting our guts to get a winner in a 4-4 at Old Trafford is beyond me.
I’m so glad I’m not them. – To join the conversation, please click here.
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DJ
I have been a writer and website administrator on the largest AFC Bournemouth fan website for almost 25 years. Previously on a now defunct fan network and since 2005 on vitalfootball.co.uk We have been nominated for various fan website awards down the years, however we have always been the bridesmaid…