Premier League Preview 2019-20: Bournemouth
Athletic Football Club Bournemouth
Credit: AFC Bournemouth
2018-19 Premier League Finish: 14th Place
2019-2020 Premier League Prediction: 15th Place
Transfers In:
Lloyd Kelly DF - Bristol City £13,000,000
Jack Stacey DF - Luton Town £4,000,000
Transfers Out:
Tyrone Mings DF - Aston Villa £20,000,000
Lys Mousset FW - Sheffield United £10,000,000
Connor Mahoney FW - Millwall, Undiscolsed
Marc Pugh FW - Free Agent
The upcoming season for Bournemouth will be their 5th consecutive season in the Premier League. Since being promoted, Bournemouth have finished 16th, 9th, 12th and 14th under the management of Eddie Howe. Howe is currently the longest serving manager at a club in the Premier League as he nears his 7th year in charge. At this point in time it looks like it’s going to be the same old same old for Bournemouth as they done nothing so far to fix their defense but at the same time haven’t sold off any meaningful players. A team that is solid in midfield and good in attack but a defensive mess. Best case scenario for Bournemouth I could see them reach as high as 10th if they were to limit the mistakes at the back and put up another offensive performance like last season. Worst case scenario for Bournemouth, they could very easily get relegated if the attack goes cold for a portion of the season.
Wilson & King
Credit: Premier League
Strength:
Bournemouth’s biggest strength is their attacking duo of Callum Wilson and Joshua King. With Wilson inking a new 4 yr deal to stay at Bournemouth, fans will no longer have to worry about losing one of their star players anytime soon. Bournemouth bagged 56 goals last season which was good for 7th best in the league. Pretty impressive to think the only teams that scored more goals were those that qualified for Champions and Europa League. Wilson and King combined nearly half of those goals with 26. With the team’s lineup and approach staying exactly the same, unless a big transfer happens before the window closes, expect much of the same going forward this season.
Weakness:
Nathan Ake
Credit: Evening Standard
Bournemouth’s weakness is clear as day and it has been for some time. Their defense. Now I will give them some slack as I think their attacking style of play does contribute to some of their poor defense, but there is no excuse for giving up 70 goals a season. Bournemouth gave up 70 goals last year in the Premier League or 1.84 goals a game. It’s pretty hard to win games when you have to score at least 3 goals to have a chance. There were only 2 other teams last year that allowed more than 70 goals and both of those teams finished 19th and 20th place and were relegated. This isn’t a new issue for Bournemouth either, they allowed 61 the season prior and allowed 67 goals the season before when they finished 9th place in the league. The two signings that Bournemouth have made so far are defenders, but I’m not sure that they help this team this season. At only £4,000,000, Jack Stacey seems more like an addition for squad depth rather than being a consistent starter and at 20 yrs old Lloyd Kelly is more than likely a guy that will hopefully be a starter in a few years but I doubt he gets in the defense much this year. Maybe I’m wrong though because they are obviously high on the 20 year old defender at £13,000,000. I think the one person that can turn this defense around, other than just signing a player, is Nathan Ake taking it to the next level. The former Chelsea academy player and Dutch national team defender is coming off arguably his best season yet. Can Ake take the step to the next level and become of the on the best defenders in the Premier League?
Top Goalscorer Predictions:
Callum Wilson: 16 goals
Joshua King: 9 goals
Ryan Fraser: 6 goals
Home Kit: Nothing too out of the ordinary with their home kit. It’s either you like the red and black stripes or you don’t. I’m a fan.
Credit: AFC Bournemouth
Third Kit: For some reason Bournemouth still haven’t released their away jersey yet, and I couldn’t even find a leaked image of one. But here’s the already confirmed alternate jersey. Neon yellow/green, not the best jersey in my opinion, but also not the worst.
