When you turned up to the Vitality Stadium, you knew what to expect week-in, week-out.
#Andy howe bournemouth how to#
Despite his relatively tender years in football management age, he had already established a proven formula of how to win games. Howe was an up-and-comer, who drew a swell of admirers for his distinct approach to winning.
It turns out Howe was furious with Arter for not carrying out a basic, mundane, possession drill which the whole academy regularly performed, to maximum intensity. There is a widely told story from a couple of years ago, when Howe was so enraged at his chief midfielder Harry Arter, he confronted the player and proceeded to stop the the session to read him the riot act. Howe would be known to bark and demand to start the possession drill again if body shape was not correct, first touch wasn’t exact, or passes were not punched in enough. Their stance needs to be near-on identical too, taking the ball at the correct time, with a soft-cushioned back-foot touch. His squad are interminably coached to have side-on body positions when receiving, even studying that the front shoulder should be directly in line with the passer. Howe doesn’t just coach a player and tell them to do something, he explains why, too. His holistic approach ensures all players understand their roles within the side, and how their actions interconnect with a teammate. When it comes to the devil in the detail, this is where Howe’s expertise lay. All the club’s age groups, from the under-7’s up to the first team, had Howe’s football ideology intrinsically sewn into them. His continued linear success has spawned from a substance to his style, which has been continually refined through the passing of time. Prior to this season, Howe’s pre-eminent achievements have been built upon an undeviating belief in his principles, unperturbed by form or circumstance. Just like his team, the Bournemouth boss has lost his way. And in doing so, making massive, potentially fatal, errors of judgement.
In reality, this season has been the first in which Howe has hit the panic button. The house may be getting back to order, but will have to be fully built back in the Championship.Ĭallum Wilson thinks he has scored a 90th minute winner but it is ruled out by VAR for handball /OeDUkOA4RNīy no means should this degrade Howe. It would be all too easy to attribute Bournemouth’s mounting issues to him being overrated or out of his depth, somehow neglecting his glittering achievements over the past decade. Howe’s decision to roll the dice months ago has proven futile. In attack, they moved the ball with purpose and speed, albeit lacking the incision to punish the sluggish visitors.īut you just got the feeling that this type of display is too little, too late. It possessed remnants of the type of football supporters hadn’t seen in months.Īt the back, they picked-up their first clean sheet since mid-December, with Spurs not managing a single shot on target – the first time in their Premier League tenure Bournemouth have ever achieved such a feat. It felt like the culmination of months of gambled mistakes had come home to roost. It had chances, drama and the ever-forging feeling that this was Bournemouth’s one last hurrah at Premier League survival. The 12 minutes of additional time – caused by a hefty collision on full-back Adam Smith – was a game within itself. Particuarly seven minutes later, when the palm of Hugo Lloris saved Harry Wilson’s dink this time it was the right hand denying Bournemouth. John Cleese’s infamous adage of “its the hope that kills you” had never been so apt. A groan and a shaking of the head ensued as VAR ruled the goal offside. He knew the left hand of Josh King had got the slightest of touches to Wilson’s overhead kick. He glanced to his right and muttered to his trusted aide, Jason Tindall. The Cherries had just scored what they thought would be the winner, the result that would be the catalyst of a revival.īut Howe remained unmoved. It was the 90th minute and a triumphant Callum Wilson wheeled off towards the emptiness intersection of the Steve Fletcher stand.
The game against Tottenham effortlessly encapsulated the narrative that’s followed Bournemouth this season.
Eddie Howe has got the most talented squad Bournemouth have ever had. So why has it caused him the most uncertainty?
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