Are Bournemouth Entering A Golden Era?

Prior to the most recent international break, Bournemouth lost 1-0 away at Leicester. This result was probably not surprising to most, as Bournemouth and Leicester look like pretty even teams right?

Well Bournemouth fans were certainly disappointed because many thought that this season could be the one where they push for a European spot, or at least finish in the top 10 in the Premier League. These end of season goals were not shared by anyone outside of the Cherries fan base.

Everyone: “Bournemouth going to get smashed in their next three.”

Us:
Arsenal (H) +3
Villa (A) +1
Man City (H) +3

The Chez ❤️ pic.twitter.com/eoIifylD0b

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) November 2, 2024

After the international break, Bournemouth had to face Arsenal (H), Aston Villa (A), and Manchester City (H), three games that were basically free hits. No one, not even Bournemouth fans, expected anything other than three defeats for the Cherries, however how it transpired will go down as one of the greatest periods in Bournemouth history.

Arsenal (H)

Arsenal fans may bemoan the number of injuries that they had before the Bournemouth game, but actually, they only had two starters missing in Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka. The starting XI of Arsenal cost a total of around £420m compared to Bournemouth’s £172m. Obviously Arsenal’s would cost more, as they are the bigger and richer club, but injuries was not a valid excuse as a side like Arsenal should not be relying on just two players.

The biggest talking point from the game was William Saliba’s red card in the first half, which some Arsenal fans still think was a wrong call. Bournemouth dominated the chances for large parts of the game both before and after Saliba’s dismissal, and ended up winning 2-0 thanks to a well worked set-piece goal from Ryan Christie and a penalty by Justin Kluivert.

Aston Villa (A)

After the Villa game, Andoni Iraola said that he was unhappy with how his side had performed, even though they walked away with a point. Had it not been for Mark Travers’ excellent display in goal for the Cherries and Evanilson’s last minute equaliser, Bournemouth would have been walking away from Villa Park empty handed for the third season in a row.

Suddenly, Aston Villa's last minute draw with Bournemouth doesnt look so bad

— VO (@VillansOpinions) November 2, 2024

Ross Barkely opened the scoring in the second half for Aston Villa after the home side had been thwarted by a mixture of Travers and the Bournemouth defence, and it looked as if there would only be one result, as Bournemouth hadn’t created much since the early stages.

However the Cherries went up the other end and had two penalty claims waved away. The first one was given as a dive and Antoine Semenyo was booked, even though Matty Cash made contact without getting a touch on the ball. The second was a blatant handball from Leon Bailey as he misjudged a header and he brought the ball down with his arm.

Evanilson finally gave the away fans something to celebrate, when he equalised with the last touch of the game. Marcus Tavernier whipped a ball in from a wide freekick, and the Brazilian striker got the slightest of flicks on it to send it past Emi Martinez.

Manchester City (H)

Before this weekend’s game, Bournemouth had never gotten even a single point off Manchester City in the Premier League. After 14 attempts, they had 14 losses, some of them by a meteoric scoreline.

Pep Guardiola went into this game complaining about his side’s injuries however the only real omissions from his squad were Jack Grealish, John Stones, Rodri and Ruben Dias. Meanwhile Bournemouth were missing Kepa Arrizabalaga, Alex Scott, Dango Ouattara and Luis Sinisterra, the same number of key players. In fact, the Cherries only had one winger on the bench in David Brooks, while Manchester City had two of the most exciting wide players waiting to come on; Jeremy Doku and Savinho.

All I’ve seen all week was talk of Man City’s injury crisis 🤣 pic.twitter.com/tI1Xxcy3bX

— Colin MUFC🇮🇪🇵🇸 (@colinmufc2) November 2, 2024

Until the last 10 minutes, Bournemouth were dominant and should have scored more than just their two goals. Semenyo and Kluivert should have given Bournemouth the lead inside the first two minutes, but Ederson denied them both with an excellent double save.

Semenyo will walk away from this game with all of the praise, having scored and bullied Kyle Walker for 90 minutes, but Milos Kerkez deserves some props too. He created the first goal all by himself and provided an excellent cross for Bournemouth’s second. On top of that, the young Hungarian full-back put in a top defensive display to keep City at bay.

How Do Bournemouth Keep This Going?

The answer is simple. They need to keep playing the way that they have been doing so far this season. The Cherries play with a high tempo that Guardiola admitted that his squad could not match. They press high which leads to high turnovers and often goals too. Against City, their first goal was from a high turnover.

Their run gets a bit easier now, with Brentford, Brighton and Wolves before the end of the month, however that is not the easiest as Brentford and Brighton have both stared the season strongly.

What Next For Bournemouth?

Having earned seven points from what looked like a certain zero, Bournemouth fans will be more optimistic about their chances of finishing in the European places. Next up they travel to Brentford, who have the joint best home record in the league. Of all of their recent fixtures, this could end up being the most difficult.

There is a lot of interest around some of Bournemouth’s better players, mainly Semenyo, Illya Zabarnyi and Kerkez, but the Cherries’ board are hopeful of keeping hold of them, something that will be made easier if the club does get European football next season. Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle have inquired about Semenyo, who has had a £50m price tag slapped on him, and Liverpool and Chelsea want Kerkez, who many thought would leave last summer.

🚨 Liverpool have earmarked Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo and Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo as possible replacements for Mo Salah.

(Source: Sky Sports) pic.twitter.com/zqbzpKxvWz

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) November 2, 2024

Surprisingly, there has been no concrete interest in Andoni Iraola yet. Fans of Crystal Palace, West Ham and Manchester United have all said that their clubs should get him in, but right now they all look like a step down for the Spanish coach.

Bournemouth is the place to be right now, with a young talented squad and one of the best coaches in the Premier League. These recent results may be a shock now, but in a few years time we could be looking at this being the start of Bournemouth’s golden era.