Opposition View: Bournemouth
Bournemouth’s season might be done and dusted already, but that is far from the case for Brighton. While the Cherries are safely marooned in mid table with 38 points, the Albion are looking nervously over their shoulders at a Cardiff City side just five points behind.
That situation is complicated further by the fact that the Bluebirds come to the Amex on Tuesday night. What we really need is to face a Bournemouth side who know their season is done, whose foot is off the gas and who we can get a morale boosting victory over.
What are the chances of that happening? We spoke to Peter Bell from Bournemouth blog Cherry Chimes to find out.
Premier League survival looks all but assured for Bournemouth. Are you happy with the Cherries season?
I don’t think I am alone in being a bit frustrated with the team this season. It’s not that any club has a deserved right to be in the Premier League season after season, but you want to see improvement. Our season tends to be all about trying to beat one of the top six clubs at least once, to be better than the three clubs that will go down and the cup runs always end at the quarter-finals to Chelsea or we go out before that. The good league start this season soon disappeared and the injuries made it very difficult for the team to be reorganised and keep the same momentum that we had at the start. We’ll want to see something better next season.
You’ve mentioned wanting to see improvement. 16th, 9th, 12th and now somewhere around 11th have been Bournemouth’s placings in the Premier League. What will it take to push you onto the next level to be regular top 10 finishers?
We need to invest in a top goalkeeper, another top centre-back and a stronger central midfielder. It’s the core of the team that is not giving Bournemouth the strength it needs to prevent so many of the goals against. That number is again going to be above 60 this season!
Given that your campaign appears to be all but over, is there any chance Bournemouth will take things easier at the Amex?
If we could take a draw now, I’d be happy enough with that. Our away form has been wretched and Brighton should be favourites for this game. I think Bournemouth have been taking it easy for a few games too many already and now they know they are seeing the games disappear fast with no addition to the points total. Our players have to put in a performance sooner or later though.
Who have been the Cherries star performers this season?
The player that will win all the awards is David Brooks. He has been amazing and is just 21-years-old. He reads the game so well and his touch is far better than anyone else in our squad. He will be a Welsh legend and is the start of a new crop of exciting new players that Bournemouth now have. Ryan Fraser and Callum Wilson have also had good seasons, but I think Jefferson Lerma has been the unsung hero in central midfield. We really miss him when he doesn’t play.
Where do you think Bournemouth will be looking to strengthen over the summer? Any Brighton players you’d like to take along the south coast?
I mentioned earlier that it is at the back where we need to strengthen. You have two great central defenders in Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy – he’s in my fantasy league team – but I don’t expect we would make an approach for either of them. Despite being slight of stature for a keeper, I have been impressed with Mathew Ryan, but I really would like us to make a keeper signing of even higher pedigree than him. So I don’t expect us to raid any of your players this summer.
Brighton were strongly linked with Dominic Solanke before his January move to the Vitality Stadium. How is he getting on at Bournemouth?
You probably ducked an expensive signing! Dominic is getting better the more games he plays but I believe it will be another 12 months before we can really say he is a decent Premier League player. He is not shy of doing the work, but his quality and consistency is, shall we say, up and down? And he’ll have to perform better over a longer period to get more than just five or 10 minutes in games.
What have you made of the two games so far this season between Brighton and Bournemouth?
The games have been similar to the matches last season. Bournemouth played well enough at home to get the win in the league game, especially when Lewis Dunk was red carded. You knew all about David Brooks after that game with his two goals! But Brighton were far better in the FA Cup. We had chances before Anthony Knockaert scored the first for Brighton, but didn’t take them. The second goal from Yves Bissouma just bounced awkwardly for Artur Boruc and was a well taken goal from distance. Bournemouth never got going, even when they had pulled one goal back from Marc Pugh. Both teams will make chances and it has been a case of the better finishing team on the day getting the win. The 3-1 win in the FA Cup will know doubt give Brighton plenty of confidence that they can play well against Bournemouth at home.
If you had to give Chris Hughton some advice on how to beat Bournemouth, what would it be?
I don’t think he needs any advice to be honest. He knows Bournemouth’s strengths and weaknesses. I don’t want to completely ruin our chances either!
Finally, how do you see the game going? And a prediction please?
I expect Brighton to have much of the early possession. Bournemouth will try and stay in the game for the first half hour and just see if they can get something on the break or from a corner. They know they have to defend better so that will be their first test and their minds are likely to be on that early on more than anything else. If Brighton are kept to 0-0 at half-time, then it should open up. As I say, it is who takes their chances. The score could be anything from 1-1 to 3-3. But I think Brighton need the win more and might come away 2-1 winners over Bournemouth. We are just not playing well enough at the moment and it would be a pleasant surprise if we did get a point.
Thanks to Peter for taking the time to answer our questions – and for being the first opposition supporter this season to actually predict a Brighton win! We wish we shared his confidence. You can check out Peter’s excellent Bournemouth blog at Cherry Chimes or follow him on Twitter.
