Premier League rescue race: Bournemouth benefit from reinforcements but defence flounders

A two-week break from English football = the perfect time to recap the balanced bottom half of the Premier League. We move from the bottom of the table to 19th place, which belongs to Bournemouth. Before the season they were the biggest relegation contenders, but after the winter strengthening their hopes of rescue have increased.

Bournemouth came into the season with a second division squad on paper, but they managed to score from time to time. After the World Cup in Qatar, he started to manage games against teams from the big six, until then he had been getting four or five.

Successful reinforcement

It took a while for the Cherries to find their way. Coach Scott Parker was perhaps unnecessarily sacked early on, but Gary O’Neil took to the squad well after a short period of adaptation. Mostly he was able to incorporate the minimum of reinforcements that the management brought in.

The leaky Mark Travers was replaced in goal by Brazilian Neto, who in turn picked up a few extra points. Defender Marcos Senesi confirmed the quality he showed last year in Feyenoord’s jersey not only against Slavia.

Even Marcus Tavernier has caught on after his transfer from the second league and the coaches are taking advantage of his versatility. Of the winter names, African speedster Dango Ouattara has had a huge impact on the team. He secured the win over Liverpool with his individual quality and will be useful for the rest of the season.

A defence with question marks

Although Senesi has caught on decently and even Jack Stephens is better than expected, the defence as a whole is not reliable. The outside backs don’t have the dynamism to stand up to modern football. Adam Smith may be a legend, but that won’t save Bournemouth among the elite.

The Cherries have the worst defensive record in the competition, conceding 54 goals. They have a long record of failing at the end of games, losing points at the very end to Leeds, Arsenal and Tottenham. With three more draws, Bournemouth would be in 13th place.

The plan for the rest of the season

Although the pre-season chances of salvation were not great, Bournemouth are only a point behind. However, the experience of fighting for salvation plays against it, the last three years the squad has performed in the Championship.

Of the big six teams, Bournemouth will face the most playable – Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United – in the last 11 rounds. The direct candidates in the fight for survival will face twice at home (West Ham, Leeds) and four times away (Everton, Leicester, Southampton, Crystal Palace).

Source: Premier League