I have always liked Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe. He comes across as an intelligent guy, who talks sense when it comes to football. The Cherries boss also seems to be honest as well.
His no BS personality is a breath of fresh air in the Premier League, where bosses spend so much time playing mind games. Apart from his obvious good character traits, there is the fact that he is a good football manager too.
I have to admit I was starting to lose faith in Eddie a few weeks ago. However, the last few Bournemouth games culminating in last night’s excellent 3-0 win at champions Chelsea has made me a believer in the highly rated Cherries boss.
His football philosophy admirable
Howe has never changed his football philosophy. He helped the Cherries to promotion by playing possession football in an attacking manner. For a former centre-back, his teams have never been cautious at all.
At times, his teams have struggled defensively in the Premier League. However, Howe has stuck to his guns and vowed never to change his philosophy. That looked set to be the undoing of the Cherries both last season and this season.
However, the Cherries boss has been rewarded for faith in his philosophy by virtue of his team turning the corner. The win at Stamford Bridge means that Howe’s side are now 10th place in the top-flight table and unbeaten in six league games.
The attacking side of the team has certainly been firing on all cylinders, as they scored at least twice in of their last six league outings.
Trio showing a lot of promise
The Cherries good attacking play of late has mainly been down to an improvement in form of striker Callum Wilson and attacking midfielders Jordon Ibe and Junior Stanislas.
The Trio were brilliant against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Both Wilson and Stanislas picked up a goal and an assist at Chelsea, while Ibe produced a fantastic through ball for Wilson to score the opening goal.
All three players have shown promise in their Premier League careers at different times, but for some reason, they have been unable to deliver on a regular basis.
Injuries have played a big part in Wilson and Stanislas’ attempts at consistently performing in recent seasons. Hopefully, now that both are back to full fitness they can thrive for the Cherries.
Bournemouth paid a club-record fee of £15million to sign promising youngster Ibe from Liverpool back in 2016. The 22-year-old had struggled to turn his potential into anything tangible, until recent recently that is.
The England under-21 has enjoyed an encouraging run of form of late in the Bournemouth shirt. The winger has now scored or assisted in three of his last four Premier League outings. It seems he is now adding a product to his potential.
If the trio can stay fit, then Bournemouth will prosper in front of goal, as they cause most defences problems with their pace and movement.
Looking upwards
Bournemouth now have a favourable run of fixtures for the next month. A couple more wins and it will be forgotten that a short while ago the Cherries were actually in the relegation zone.
If they can keep everybody fit, and firing then their odds of 5/4 to finish in the top-half of the Premier League will seem very generous indeed.
I have to say I am very happy for Eddie Howe. He is still a relatively young coach in terms of the Premier League. However, he is doing things his own way and it seems to be successful.
There are not enough good young English coaches out there, so it would be nice to see Eddie Howe make it to the very top of the game, even if I have doubted him a few times in recent seasons!
Can Bournemouth finish in the Premier League top-half this season?
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